Ali

Specially Concurring in Part:

Because there is no longer a claim on behalf of the class, I would vacate the certification and dismiss the case unless the petitioners have individual claims to bring to the attention of the district court. In that event, the proper respondent could be resolved.

ORDER

In Ali v. Ashcroft, 346 F.3d 873 (9th Cir.2003), we held that the United States cannot remove aliens to Somalia because 8 U.S.C. § 1231 does not permit removal if the country does not have a functioning government to accept the aliens. Id. at 876 . We also held that the Attorney General was the proper respondent in the habeas petition because of his unique role as the interpreter of the statute and the “ultimate decision-maker” in attempting to remove the Somalians despite the lack of a functioning government to accept them. Id. at 888 .

The Supreme Court subsequently held that Somalia’s inability to accept a person does not preclude the alien’s removal from the United States. Jama v. Immigration & Customs Enforcement, — U.S. -, 125 S.Ct. 694 , 160 L.Ed.2d 708 (2005). Jama thus has foreclosed the claim that the government may not remove aliens to Somalia. Furthermore, in Rumsfeld v. Padilla, 542 U.S. 426 , 124 S.Ct. 2711 , 159 L.Ed.2d 513 (2004), the Supreme Court held that the proper respondent in a habe-as proceeding, in which Padilla challenged his detention as an enemy combatant, was the warden of the facility where Padilla was being held, not the Secretary of Defense.…