9th Circuit Issues General Order Re: Issuing Stays in Petitions for Review

IMMIGRATION LAW & POLICY

Removal Procedures and Defenses

9TH CIRCUIT ISSUES GENERAL ORDER RE: ISSUING STAYS IN PETITIONS FOR REVIEW
Immigrants' Rights Update, Web Edition, July 15, 2002

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has issued a general order establishing the procedures that the court will follow in adjudicating requests for stays of deportation or removal filed in conjunction with petitions for review of deportation or removal orders. The order essentially codifies the procedure that the court established in DeLeon v. INS, 115 F.3d 643 (9th Cir. 1997).

Under the order, the filing of a motion or request for a stay of removal or deportation results in a temporary stay pending further order of the court. This stay occurs automatically, and the court ordinarily will not issue an order confirming the stay. A briefing schedule on the merits of the petition will not be established until the court has resolved the stay request. If the court on reviewing the request finds that it does not address the merits of the petition or the potential harms faced by the petitioner, the court will notify the petitioner and give him or her 14 days to submit a supplemental motion. The INS is given 42 days from the filing of the motion or stay request in which to file a response, and the agency must submit the administrative record at the same time. The petitioner may file a reply brief within 7 days of service of the INS's response.

Ninth Circuit General Order 6.4.c. (effective July 1, 2002).