Mauricio Margain v. Elsa Ruiz-Bours

MEMORANDUM

Mauricio Fernandez Margain (“Mauricio”) appeals from the district court’s denial of his petition for the return of his minor daughter to Mexico, pursuant to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, Oct. 25, 1980,19 I.L.M. 1501 (the “Convention”), as implemented by the International Child Abduction Remedies Act, 22 U.S.C. § 9001 et seq. We affirm. Because we conclude that the district court correctly determined that the child was “settled” within the meaning of Article 12 of the Convention,we affirm on that ground without deciding the habitual residence question.

“Article 12 of the Convention states the general rule that when a court receives a petition for return within one year after the child’s wrongful removal, the court ‘shall order the return of the child forthwith.’” Lozano v. Montoya Alvarez, — U.S. -, 134 S.Ct. 1224, 1229 , 188 L.Ed.2d 200 (2014) (quoting Convention, art. 12). Article 12 also contains an affirmative defense: “If the abducting parent can show that the petition for return was filed more than a year after the wrongful removal or retention occurred, and ‘that the child is now settled in its new environment,’ the…