Araujo

MEMORANDUM & ORDER Re: Plaintiffs’ and Defendant’s Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment

This matter comes before the court on cross-motions for partial summary judgment regarding the impact of the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Castro-Cortez v. INS on this litigation. Plaintiffs claim that they are entitled to summary judgment on the issue of liability, since the Ninth Circuit has already decided that question in their favor. Defendant, meanwhile, argues that a different question was at issue in Castro-Cortez, and thus that the Ninth Circuit’s holding is functionally inapplicable to this case. Having considered the arguments presented and for the reasons stated below, the court enters the following memorandum and order.

BACKGROUND

The facts that give rise to this case are already well-described in the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Castro-Cortez v. INS, 239 F.3d 1037 (9th Cir.2001). For the sake of clarity and completeness, the court summarizes them again here.

Plaintiff Jose Luis Araujo, a citizen of Mexico, initially came to the United States in 1979. Id. at 1041. In 1983, Araujo was caught and deported by the INS after that agency determined that he had entered the United States…