Case 2:18-cv-00928-MJP Document 38 Filed 09/06/18 Page 1 of 6 The Honorable Marsha J. Pechman 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON 8 9 10 11 Yolany PADILLA, et al., Plaintiffs, Case No. 2:18-cv-00928-MJP v. 12 13 U.S. IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT, et al., 14 Defendants. 15 DECLARATION OF TRINA REALMUTO IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS’ AMENDED MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 I, Trina Realmuto, hereby declare: 1. I am the Directing Attorney of the American Immigration Council (Boston). I am one of the counsel for Plaintiffs in this case. 2. I was admitted to the New York and California bars in 1998 and 1999, respectively, after graduating from Albany Law School of Union University in 1997 and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1994. I am admitted to practice before the 24 courts of the States of New York and California, the United States District Courts for the 25 26 Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the United States District Courts for the Northern, NORTHWEST IMMIGRANT RIGHTS PROJECT REALMUTO DECL. ISO AM. CLASS CERT. MOT. Case No. 2:18-cv-00928-MJP -1 615 Second Avenue, Suite 400 Seattle, WA 98104 Tel. (206) 957-8611 Case 2:18-cv-00928-MJP Document 38 Filed 09/06/18 Page 2 of 6 1 Southern, Eastern and Central Districts of California, the United States District Court for the 2 District of Connecticut, the United States District Court for the District of Vermont as well as 3 4 the United States Courts of Appeals for the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Circuits, and the U.S. Supreme Court. 5 6 7 3. I have practiced immigration law for over 20 years. I began working in immigration law in 1997, first as an associate attorney at the law firm of Van Der Hout & 8 Brigagliano (now Van Der Hout, Brigagliano & Nightingale LLP), later as an attorney 9 consultant to the American Immigration Law Foundation (now the American Immigration 10 11 Council), and then, from 2009 to 2017, as a Staff Attorney and then Litigation Director for the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild. In September 2017, I began 12 working again for the American Immigration Council in my current position. 13 14 4. I have litigated or am litigating immigration cases before the immigration court 15 in San Francisco, California, the Board of Immigration Appeals, and federal district courts in 16 the Northern, Southern, and Eastern Districts of California, the Eastern and Southern Districts 17 of New York, the District of Connecticut, the Northern District of Georgia (pro hac vice), the 18 Southern District of Texas (pro hac vice), the District of Columbia (pro hac vice), the Middle 19 District of Tennessee (pro hac vice), the District of Vermont (pro hac vice), the District of 20 Massachusetts (pro hac vice), the Western District of North Carolina (pro hac vice), and the 21 22 23 Western District of Washington (pro hac vice). 5. I have litigated or am litigating cases on behalf of amicus curiae before the 24 Board of Immigration Appeals, several federal district courts, the U.S. Courts of Appeals for 25 the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh 26 NORTHWEST IMMIGRANT RIGHTS PROJECT REALMUTO DECL. ISO AM. CLASS CERT. MOT. Case No. 2:18-cv-00928-MJP -2 615 Second Avenue, Suite 400 Seattle, WA 98104 Tel. (206) 957-8611 Case 2:18-cv-00928-MJP Document 38 Filed 09/06/18 Page 3 of 6 1 2 3 4 Circuits, and the U.S. Supreme Court. 6. Among the immigration cases I have litigated are the following: • Rodriguez v. Aitken, Case No. 13-0551 SC (N.D. Cal., filed Feb. 21, 2013) (unpublished) (settlement of Federal Tort Claims Act claims against ICE for unlawful detention of U.S. citizen). 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 • Yost v. United States, Case No. 3:13-cv-02509-W-DHB (S.D. Cal., filed Oct. 18, 2013) (unpublished) (settlement of Federal Tort Claims Act suit against ICE for unlawful detention of U.S. citizen). • Perez Santana v. Holder, 731 F.3d 50 (1st Cir. 2013) (amicus counsel, argued); Prestol Espinal v. AG of the United States, 653 F.3d 213 (3d Cir. 2011) (amicus counsel); William v. Gonzales, 499 F.3d 329 (4th Cir. 2007) (amicus counsel); Lari v. Holder, 697 F.3d 273 (5th Cir. 2012) (amicus counsel); Pruidze v. Holder, 632 F.3d 234 (6th Cir. 2011) (amicus counsel, argued); Reyes-Torres v. Holder, 645 F.3d 1073 (9th Cir. 2011) (amicus counsel, argued); Contreras-Bocanegra v. Holder, 678 F.3d 811 (10th Cir. 2012) (en banc) (amicus counsel, argued) (invalidating regulation barring review over motions filed after noncitizen departs the United States). • Matter of Cerda Reyes, 26 I&N Dec. 528 (2015) (amicus counsel) (construing 8 C.F.R. § 1003.19(c) as governing venue over bond motions and finding that DHS transfer of respondent out of the Carolinas prior to a bond hearing did not deprive immigration judge of jurisdiction to conduct a bond hearing). • Lugo-Resendez v. Lynch, 831 F.3d 337 (5th Cir. 2016) (amicus counsel) (establishing that the deadline for motions to reopen may be equitable tolled). 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 • Klim v. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, No. 1:14-cv-268 (D. Vt., filed Mar. 25, 2015) (dismissing habeas petition challenging expedited removal order after government agreed to vacate the order). • Hassine v. Johnson, 53 F. Supp. 3d 1297 (E.D. Cal. 2014) (granting attorneys’ fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act after prevailing on petition to adjudicate naturalization application). 7. I have experience litigating class actions involving immigrants’ rights. See Duran Gonzales v. U.S. Department of Homeland Sec., 712 F.3d 1271 (9th Cir. 2013) (circuit- 24 25 26 wide certification) (successfully challenging retroactivity of agency decision to individuals previously eligible for adjustment of status); Brown v. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, NORTHWEST IMMIGRANT RIGHTS PROJECT REALMUTO DECL. ISO AM. CLASS CERT. MOT. Case No. 2:18-cv-00928-MJP -3 615 Second Avenue, Suite 400 Seattle, WA 98104 Tel. (206) 957-8611 Case 2:18-cv-00928-MJP Document 38 Filed 09/06/18 Page 4 of 6 1 No. 3:15-cv-01181-JD (N.D. Cal.) (settled prior to decision on certification) (challenging 2 agency failure to timely respond to Freedom of Information Act requests); Mendez Rojas v. 3 4 Johnson, 305 F. Supp. 3d 1176 (W.D. Wash., Mar. 29, 2018) (nationwide certification) (granting summary judgment for plaintiffs and ordering the government to provide notice and 5 6 7 opportunity to comply with the one-year deadline for asylum applications); Rosario v. USCIS, No. 2:15-cv-00813-JLR, Dkt. No. 127 (W.D. Wash., July 26, 2018) (nationwide certification) 8 (granting summary judgment for plaintiffs and ordering the government to timely adjudicate 9 employment authorization document applications); Wagafe v. Trump, No. 2:17-cv-00094-RAJ, 10 11 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95887 (W.D. Wash. June 21, 2017) (granting nationwide certification in case challenging application of the Controlled Application Review and Resolution Program 12 to naturalization and adjustment of status applicants). I am also counsel in Moreno v. Nielsen, 13 14 No. 1:18-cv-01135 (E.D.N.Y., filed Feb. 22, 2018), a putative nationwide class action on behalf 15 of Temporary Protected Status holders seeking adjustment of status, and Palacios v. Sessions, 16 No. 3:18-cv-0026 RJC-DSC (W.D.N.C., filed Jan. 17. 2018), a putative class action on behalf 17 of certain noncitizens seeking bond hearings in the Charlotte Immigration Court. 18 19 8. In 2015, the American Immigration Lawyers Association awarded me the Jack Wasserman Memorial Award for Excellence in Litigation. 20 9. Kristin Macleod-Ball is an attorney at law, admitted in the State of New York. 21 22 She has been a staff attorney at the American Immigration Council since September 2017 and 23 previously worked at the Council from September 2012 to August 2016, first as a legal fellow 24 and then as a staff attorney from May 2015 to August 2016. From September 2016 to August 25 2017, she was a litigation attorney at the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers 26 NORTHWEST IMMIGRANT RIGHTS PROJECT REALMUTO DECL. ISO AM. CLASS CERT. MOT. Case No. 2:18-cv-00928-MJP -4 615 Second Avenue, Suite 400 Seattle, WA 98104 Tel. (206) 957-8611 Case 2:18-cv-00928-MJP Document 38 Filed 09/06/18 Page 5 of 6 1 Guild. 2 3 4 10. Kristin is admitted to practice before the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Circuits and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. She has experience litigating class actions 5 6 7 involving immigrants’ rights. See F.L.B. v. Lynch, No. 2:14-cv-1026-TSZ (W.D. Wash.) (Ninth Circuit-wide certification); Mendez Rojas v. Johnson, No. 2:16-cv-01024-RSM (W.D. Wash.) 8 (nationwide certification); Wagafe v. Trump, No. 2:17-cv-00094-RAJ (W.D. Wash.) 9 (nationwide certification); Palacios v. Sessions, No. 3:18-cv-0026 RJC-DSC (W.D.N.C.) 10 (putative class action); Moreno v. Nielsen, No. 1:18-cv-01135 (E.D.N.Y.) (putative class 11 action). 12 11. Neither myself nor any of our co-counsel are receiving reimbursement from 13 14 individual plaintiffs or class members in this case. All counsel in this case are qualified and 15 capable of adequately and fairly protecting the interests of the individual plaintiffs and the 16 proposed class and possess the commitment and resources to prosecute the case as a class 17 action. 18 19 I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed this 20 6th day of September 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. 21 By: 22 s/Trina Realmuto Trina Realmuto 23 24 25 26 NORTHWEST IMMIGRANT RIGHTS PROJECT REALMUTO DECL. ISO AM. CLASS CERT. MOT. Case No. 2:18-cv-00928-MJP -5 615 Second Avenue, Suite 400 Seattle, WA 98104 Tel. (206) 957-8611 Case 2:18-cv-00928-MJP Document 38 Filed 09/06/18 Page 6 of 6 1 2 3 4 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that on September 6, 2018, I filed the foregoing with the Clerk of the Court using the CM/ECF system, which will send notification of such filing to those attorneys of record registered on the CM/ECF system. All other parties shall be served in accordance with the 5 6 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. 7 DATED this 6th day of September, 2018. 8 s/ Glenda M. Aldana Madrid Glenda M. Aldana Madrid NORTHWEST IMMIGRANT RIGHTS PROJECT 615 Second Avenue, Suite 400 Seattle, WA 98104 Telephone: (206) 957-8646 Facsimile: (206) 587-4025 E-mail: glenda@nwirp.org 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 REALMUTO DECL. Case No. 2:18 cv 00928-MJP NORTHWEST IMMIGRANT RIGHTS PROJECT 615 Second Avenue, Suite 400 Seattle, WA 98104 Tel. (206) 957-8611