United States v. Seihichiro Tsutagawa, United States of America v. Chihiro Takamatsu

The grand jury returned a separate indictment against each appellee charging the harboring and concealing of illegal aliens in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1324 (a)(3). Motions to dismiss the indictments were granted by the district court because all but four of the apprehended aliens were released and sent back to Mexico by the government. The government contends that the district court erred in applying United States v. Mendez-Rodriguez, 450 F.2d 1 (9th Cir. 1971), because in the present case the aliens were apprehended incident to a grand jury investigation directed towards unknown ranch owners and foremen supervising the employed illegal aliens rather than incident to an arrest. We reject the contention and affirm.

The United States Attorney’s office, in connection with a proposed grand jury investigation, devised a plan whereby the Border Patrol agents, when they made their usual checks at ranches and farms, would be armed with grand jury subpoenae to be served on supervisory personnel in the area where illegal aliens were discovered or apprehended. The Border Patrol agents were also given a list of questions to ask apprehended illegal aliens in an effort to determine, among…