Chen

Background

On January 10, 2001, INS Special Agent Timothy Conway (“Conway”) and other INS agents executed a search warrant at Apartment 101 at the Harmon Gardens apartment complex. The search warrant was in connection with the criminal inves- tigation of Ho Chun Li (“Li”), who was suspected of smug- gling aliens. A confidential informant had revealed to the INS that numerous illegal aliens were living in the apartment. The agents encountered approximately 14 illegal aliens in the apartment, including Chen. When questioned about his citi- zenship, Chen stated that he was a Chinese citizen. He was then taken into administrative custody, pending a final deter- mination by an Immigration Judge (“IJ”).

On January 12, 2001, Chen was served with a notice informing him that he had been arrested “because immigra- tion officers believe that you are illegally in the United States,” and further informing him that he had a right to a hearing before an IJ. The same day, while Chen was in INS 1 The INS has been abolished and its functions transferred to the Depart- ment of Homeland Security. See Homeland Security Act of 2002, Pub. L. No. 107-296, 116 Stat. 2142 (2002), 6 U.S.C. §§ 101-557.…