JAIRO FERINO SANCHEZ v. JEFFERSON B. SESSIONS III
US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Motz, March 27, 2018,
Immigration – Exclusionary Rule- Evidence from an illegal search or seizure by Local or State Law-Enforcement will not be excluded from a civil immigration hearing unless the violation is “egregious”

Facts:
In 2009, Maryland Transportation Authority Police (MDTA/MdTAP) stopped Jose Badillo for a traffic violation. Badillo failed to produce a valid license and the officer noticed that the car had exposed ignition wiring and no steering column. The officer, believing that the car might have been stolen, questioned Badillo further. Badillo told the officer that the car belonged to a friend, so the officer had Badillo call his friend to come get his car. Badillo’s friend arrived on scene, but parked his car 30 feet away from the car stop and stayed in the car for 5 minutes. Thinking this was suspicious, the officer walked up to the Acura and asked the men whether they were “illegal or legal.” At that point, one of the occupants admitted that they had entered the country illegally.
The MDTA officers then handcuffed the men and transported them to the station. The men were detained for apx. 3 hours. When ICE was going to take more time to retrieve the men, MDTA transported them to the ICE facility.
ICE instituted removal proceedings against the men and the men challenged the proceeding on the ground that their admission was the result of an illegal seizure.
The immigration judge found that the officer violated the 4th Amendment by detaining them.

Held: The Fourth Circuit held that the officers’ conduct was not “egregious” and therefore allowed the evidence to be used against Sanchez

Exclusionary Rule – Does not apply to civil deportation cases outside of “egregious violations of Fourth Amendment or other liberties that might transgress notions of fundamental fairness and undermine the probative value of the evidence obtained”

Seizure – A stop or seizure based solely on an abuse of an officer’s legal authority and without reasonable suspicion of criminal activity will usually be considered “egregious”

Seizure – A State or Local law-enforcement officer cannot detain or arrest someone based solely on a civil immigration violation unless that officer is working at the direction or authorization of federal authorities.