Mazen Al Najjar v. John Ashcroft

[PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
FILED
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
________________________ ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
NOVEMBER 28, 2001
No. 00-14947 THOMAS K. KAHN
________________________ CLERK

D. C. Docket No. 99-03458-CV-JAL

MAZEN AL NAJJAR,
Petitioner-Appellee,
Cross-Appellant,

versus

JOHN ASHCROFT, Attorney General,
United States Department of Justice,
DORIS MEISNER, Commissioner,
Immigration and Naturalization Service,
et al.,
Respondents -Appellants,
Cross-Appellees.

________________________

Appeals from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Florida
_________________________
(November 28, 2001)

Before HULL, MARCUS and FARRIS*, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:

*
Honorable Jerome Farris, U.S. Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit, sitting by designation.
 Respondents-Appellants John Ashcroft, et al. (“the Attorney General”)

appeal a decision of the district court granting Petitioner-Appellee Mazen Al

Najjar’s request for habeas corpus relief in connection with his bond

redetermination proceedings. In an order dated May 31, 2000, the district court

ruled that the government could not detain Al Najjar pending judicial review of the

BIA’s order of deportation on the basis of undisclosed, classified information

linking him to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (“PIJ”), a terrorist organization. See Al

Najjar v. Reno, 97 F. Supp. 2d 1329 (S.D. Fla. 2000). Just recently, however, on

November 13, 2001, a mandate issued from a panel of this Court in a related case

denying Al Najjar’s petition for judicial review and affirming the BIA’s

deportation order on grounds completely unconnected to the terrorist allegations.

See Case No. 99-14807 (underlying panel decision at Al Najjar v. Ashcroft, 257

F.3d 1262 (11th Cir. 2001)). Because the issuance of the November 13th mandate

constitutes a final order of deportation, the Attorney General now possesses the

unquestioned authority to detain Al Najjar without bond as he executes that order

without regard to any classified information portraying Al Najjar as a national

security threat. The government’s appeal of his separate bond case is therefore

moot, depriving this Court of jurisdiction. Accordingly, the appeal must be

2
dismissed and the district court’s order, as well as the bond granted on remand,

vacated.

I.

Understanding the circumstances of this case requires a discussion of two

separate, yet largely concurrent, legal actions involving Al Najjar. The first action

is the government’s effort to remove Al Najjar from the United States due to the

expiration of his status as a legal alien. The second action, which is the subject of

this appeal, is Al Najjar’s bid to be released from detention on bond during the

pendency of his deportation proceedings. In the end, it is the recent and final

completion of the first action that renders the instant case unambiguously moot.

Al Najjar was born in Gaza in 1957 and moved with his family to Saudi

Arabia one year later. After thirteen years there, he moved to Egypt, where he

completed high school and eventually received a bachelor’s degree in 1979. From

1979 to 1981, he worked in the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”) on a temporary

work visa. In 1981, Al Najjar first entered the United States on a Palestinian

refugee travel document issued by the Egyptian government. Aside from a brief

trip abroad in 1984, Al Najjar has remained in this country since that time. After

obtaining authorization from the Immigration and Naturalization Service (“INS”)

to stay in the United States for the duration of his nonimmigrant student status, Al

3
Najjar pursued graduate degrees in engineering in North Carolina and at the

University of South Florida (“USF”) in Tampa, earning a doctorate in 1994. In

addition to his engineering work, Al Najjar helped to found at USF the World and

Islam Studies Enterprise (“WISE”), described by this Court in the related case as

“a think-tank ostensibly committed to educating the public about Islamic issues

through research, publishing, and seminars.” 257 F.3d at 1272.

The first legal action against Al Najjar (the government’s effort to deport

him) commenced on April 19, 1985, when the INS issued an order to show cause

under 8 U.S.C. § 1251(a)(9) (1984), alleging that Al Najjar had failed to maintain

the conditions of his nonimmigrant status by providing untruthful information to

the INS. The basis of the allegation was a claim by Al Najjar’s first wife that she

had participated in a sham marriage to allow him to obtain a green card. The INS

later supplemented the order to show cause by charging that Al Najjar had not

maintained the conditions of his nonimmigrant status under the Immigration and

Nationality Act (“INA”). On June 4, 1986, the case against Al Najjar was closed

when he failed to appear at an administrative hearing. Al Najjar asked the INS to

re-open the hearing once he received notice of it a few weeks later, but he received

no response.

4
 After a decade had passed, the INS rescheduled Al Najjar’s case for a

deportation hearing on February 8, 1996. Those proceedings were consolidated

with deportation proceedings for his wife, Fedaa. At the hearing, Al Najjar

conceded his deportability on the ground that he had overstayed his nonimmigrant

student visa status, but he asked for relief from deportation, including asylum,

withholding of removal, and suspension. In an effort to show that Al Najjar should

not be given discretionary relief, the INS produced at the administrative hearing

evidence purportedly linking Al Najjar and WISE to the PIJ, a known terrorist

group, and various individuals who have supported and engaged in terrorism in the

Middle East. On May 13, 1997, an immigration judge (“IJ”) found Al Najjar

deportable and denied his application for relief. The IJ designated the UAE as his

country of deportation, and Al Najjar appealed to the Board of Immigration

Appeals (“BIA”).

Six days after the IJ’s ruling, federal agents arrested Al Najjar on the basis of

classified information that he was connected to Middle Eastern terrorist

organizations and detained him without bond on the ground that he posed a threat

to national security. The second relevant legal action then commenced when,

pursuant to 8 C.F.R. § 242.2(d) (1995), Al Najjar requested a redetermination of

his custody status. The IJ conducted a two-part hearing. The first part of the

5
hearing was public and the second consisted of an ex parte review of classified

information. The IJ then re-opened the public hearing to allow Al Najjar to rebut

an unclassified summary of the confidential material. The summary stated that

“[t]his Court was provided with information as to the association of [Al Najjar]

with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.” Al Najjar’s attorneys then called witnesses to

rebut the allegation in this summary. On June 23, 1997, the IJ held that Al Najjar

should remain detained without bond because he “is associated with a terrorist

organization known as the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.” Al Najjar appealed the bond

decision to the BIA, arguing that the consideration of classified evidence in ex

parte proceedings violated various statutory and constitutional rights. On

September 15, 1997, the BIA affirmed the IJ’s bond decision.

Two years later, on October 26, 1999, a different BIA panel affirmed the

May 1997 IJ decision in the first action, ordering the deportation of Al Najjar and

his wife. The Al Najjars then petitioned this Court for judicial review of their

orders of deportation issued by the BIA. At the beginning of that judicial review,

on December 16, 1999, a panel of this Court granted the Al Najjars’ unopposed

motions to stay deportation pending completion of their appeals to this Court.

After his deportation order was stayed and while his petition for judicial

review of his deportation order was pending, Al Najjar filed on December 22, 1999

6
a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the

Southern District of Florida pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241, seeking his immediate

release from custody pending the conclusion of the deportation proceedings. Like

the appeal to the BIA, the habeas petition alleged that the consideration of

classified material was barred by both the INA and the due process clause of the

Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution. The petition also claimed that

Al Najjar was being punished on the basis of his political associations in violation

of the First and Fifth Amendments.

On May 31, 2000, with the direct appeal of the merits of his deportation

order still pending, the district court granted in part Al Najjar’s petition for habeas

relief. In its opinion, the district court framed the question in the case as “whether

Petitioner has been denied the right to a fundamentally fair bond redetermination

hearing pending the final determination of his deportation proceedings.” 97 F.

Supp. 2d at 1342. Despite finding that the consideration of classified material was

permitted under INA § 242(a), 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a) (1995), the court determined,

notably without examining the evidence, that the ex parte, in camera proceedings

violated Al Najjar’s due process rights. This decision was based in large part on

the district court’s determination that Al Najjar retained certain due process rights

because he was not yet subject to a final order of deportation: “[A]s a ‘deportable’

7
alien at the time of the bond redetermination hearing, Petitioner enjoys greater

protections of due process than those afforded to [aliens] . . . subject to final orders

of deportation from the United States.” Id. at 1353. The district court also

explained that Al Najjar’s “mere association” with known terrorists was not alone a

basis for detention. Id. at 1361.

As a remedy, the district court remanded the matter back to the IJ to make an

initial determination of Al Najjar’s entitlement to bond based solely on the public

record. If the public evidence did not support detention, the government would be

allowed to introduce the classified evidence in a way that afforded Al Najjar

“access to the decisive evidence to the fullest extent possible, without jeopardizing

legitimately raised national security interests.” Id. at 1358 (quotations omitted).

The government appealed to this Court and Al Najjar filed a cross-appeal,

primarily challenging the district court’s conclusion that the INA authorized the

use of confidential information.

On remand, the IJ concluded after the first phase of the hearing that the

public information failed to support detention, and, in the second phase, the

government presented only a one-page “unclassified summary” and a sixteen-page

“unclassified extract.” Finding the new evidence to be insufficient and conclusory,

the IJ ordered Al Najjar released on $8,000 bond. After three years and seven

8
months in custody, Al Najjar was released pursuant to an order signed by the

Attorney General on December 15, 2000. The INS initially appealed the bond

decision to the BIA, but the appeal was dismissed as withdrawn on August 3, 2001.

On July 18, 2001, before the appeal of the bond decision to the BIA was

withdrawn, another panel of this Court issued a final merits decision in the first

action, affirming the BIA’s deportation order for Mazen and Fedaa Al Najjar. The

panel found substantial evidentiary and legal support for the BIA’s conclusions

that the Al Najjars were ineligible for asylum on the basis of a fear of persecution

and that they could not meet the great burden necessary for receiving withholding

of deportation. See 257 F.3d at 1284-93. The Court also held that the BIA did not

err in selecting the Al Najjars’ testing countries for asylum and for withholding, or

in finding Al Najjar ineligible for suspension of deportation due to his failure to

remain in the United States for a continuous period of seven years. See id. at 1293-

99. Finally, the panel held that the BIA properly rejected motions to remand on the

bases that the IJ erroneously pretermitted Al Najjar’s application for suspension of

deportation and failed to consider claims under the United Nations Convention

Against Torture. See id. at 1300-04. Notably, the panel’s decision affirming Al

Najjar’s deportation did not rely in any way on confidential information or the

allegations that Al Najjar was connected to terrorist groups.

9
 The Court denied Al Najjar’s motion to reconsider its decision and his

motion for rehearing en banc on October 25, 2001. On November 13, 2001, the

panel also denied Al Najjar’s motion to stay issuance of the mandate pending a

petition for a writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court. The mandate issued on the

same day.

II.

Article III of the Constitution limits the jurisdiction of the federal courts to

the consideration of “Cases” and “Controversies.” U.S. Const. art. III, § 2. In turn,

the “case or controversy” constraint imposes on federal courts a “dual limitation”

known as “justiciability.” United States v. Florida Azalea Specialists, 19 F.3d 620,

621 (11th Cir. 1994). The doctrine of justiciability prevents courts from

encroaching on the powers of the elected branches of government and guarantees

that courts consider only matters presented in an actual adversarial context. See

Socialist Workers Party v. Leahy, 145 F.3d 1240, 1244 (11th Cir. 1998). “Because

the judiciary is unelected and unrepresentative, the Article III case-or-controversy

limitation, as embodied in the justiciability doctrine, presents an important

restriction on the power of the federal courts.” Id. (citing Allen v. Wright, 468 U.S.

737, 750, 104 S. Ct. 3315, 3324, 82 L. Ed. 2d 556 (1984) (“[T]he ‘case or

10
controversy’ requirement defines with respect to the Judicial Branch the idea of

separation of powers on which the Federal Government is founded.”)).

The doctrine of mootness derives directly from the case-or-controversy

limitation because “an action that is moot cannot be characterized as an active case

or controversy.” Adler v. Duval County Sch. Bd., 112 F.3d 1475, 1477 (11th Cir.

1997). “[A] case is moot when the issues presented are no longer ‘live’ or the

parties lack a legally cognizable interest in the outcome.” Powell v. McCormack,

395 U.S. 486, 496, 89 S. Ct. 1944, 1951, 23 L. Ed. 2d 491 (1969). As this Court

has explained, “[p]ut another way, ‘a case is moot when it no longer presents a live

controversy with respect to which the court can give meaningful relief.’” Florida

Ass’n of Rehab. Facilities, Inc. v. Florida Dep’t of Health and Rehab. Servs., 225

F.3d 1208, 1216-17 (11th Cir. 2000) (quoting Ethredge v. Hail, 996 F.2d 1173,

1175 (11th Cir. 1993)). If events that occur subsequent to the filing of a lawsuit or

an appeal deprive the court of the ability to give the plaintiff or appellant

meaningful relief, then the case is moot and must be dismissed. See, e.g., Hall v.

Beals, 396 U.S. 45, 48, 90 S. Ct. 200, 201-02, 24 L. Ed. 2d 214 (1969) (per

curiam). Indeed, dismissal is required because mootness is jurisdictional. See

Florida Ass’n of Rehab. Facilities, 225 F.3d at 1227 n.14 (citing North Carolina v.

Rice, 404 U.S. 244, 246, 92 S. Ct. 402, 404, 30 L. Ed. 2d 413 (1971) (“The

11
question of mootness is . . . one which a federal court must resolve before it

assumes jurisdiction.”)). “Any decision on the merits of a moot case or issue

would be an impermissible advisory opinion.” Id. at 1217 (citing Hall, 396 U.S. at

48, 90 S. Ct. at 201-02).

Although there is an exception to the mootness doctrine when the action

being challenged by the lawsuit is capable of being repeated and evading review,

this exception is “narrow,” Dow Jones & Co. v. Kaye, 256 F.3d 1251, 1256 (11th

Cir. 2001), and applies only in “exceptional situations.” Id. (quoting City of Los

Angeles v. Lyons, 461 U.S. 95, 109, 103 S. Ct. 1660, 1669, 75 L. Ed. 2d 675

(1983)). In particular, the exception can be invoked only when “(1) there [is] a

reasonable expectation or a demonstrated probability that the same controversy

will recur involving the same complaining party, and (2) the challenged action is in

its duration too short to be fully litigated prior to its cessation or expiration.” Sierra

Club v. Martin, 110 F.3d 1551, 1554 (11th Cir. 1997) (emphasis added). The

remote possibility that an event might recur is not enough to overcome mootness,

and even a likely recurrence is insufficient if there would be ample opportunity for

review at that time.

III.

12
 As in virtually every recent immigration case, it is necessary to begin the

discussion by clarifying what law governs our analysis. In this case, that task is

not difficult because another panel of this Court in the related first action against

Al Najjar has already concluded that the transitional rules, enacted by the Illegal

Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (“IIRIRA”),

govern Al Najjar’s deportation proceedings. See 257 F.3d at 1276-77.1 Moreover,

both parties advocated the use of IIRIRA’s transitional rules in their briefs to the

district court, and Al Najjar repeats the argument before this Court.2

1
As this Court observed in the related first action: “Mazen’s deportation proceedings
commenced in 1985 when the INS issued an OSC against him. . . . Final orders of deportation
were entered against Mazen and Fedaa in October 1999 when the BIA, by written opinion,
affirmed the IJ’s decision denying relief under the INA. See 8 C.F.R. § 241.31 (2001)
(explaining that an order of deportation ‘shall become final upon dismissal of an appeal by the
Board of Immigration Appeals,’ among other things). Thus, the Al Najjars are subject to the
transitional rules, not the new ‘permanent rules.’” 257 F.3d at 1276. Likewise, the district court
in this case concluded the transitional rules applied because Al Najjar “was not subject to a final
order of deportation until October 26, 1999, the date on which the BIA upheld the IJ’s
Deportation Order.” 97 F. Supp. 2d at 1341.
In addition, this Court has held that § 2241 habeas review remains available for aliens
whose deportation proceedings are governed by the transitional rules of IIRIRA. See Alanis-
Bustamante v. Reno, 201 F.3d 1303, 1308 (11th Cir. 2000); Mayers v. INS, 175 F.3d 1289, 1301
(11th Cir. 1999).
2
IIRIRA eliminated the distinction between “deportation” and “exclusion,” placing both
procedures under the heading “removal.” Under the old law, Al Najjar was subject to
“deportation” since he had initially been admitted lawfully to the United States. Because the
instant case is proceeding under IIRIRA’s transitional rules, we continue to use the old
nomenclature and refer to the proceedings against Al Najjar as “deportation,” rather than
“removal.”

13
 The circumstances of this case have changed dramatically since Al Najjar

began his quest for bond. When a panel of this Court issued a mandate affirming

Al Najjar’s deportation on November 13, 2001, this terminated the December 16,

1999 stay of Al Najjar’s deportation and also undoubtedly resulted in a final order

of deportation. Plainly, the final order of deportation gives the Attorney General

unambiguous authority under controlling law to take Al Najjar into custody now

without any regard to confidential information allegedly linking him to terrorist

organizations. Therefore, the question addressed by the district court of whether

the classified evidence could be considered in determining bond is moot,

necessitating the vacatur of the district court’s order and the bond granted by the IJ

pursuant to that order.

As an initial matter, the November 13th mandate of this Court constitutes a

final order of deportation for Al Najjar. Under the federal regulations governing

deportation proceedings commenced prior to April 1, 1997, an order of deportation

is “final and subject to execution” on the date when any of the following occurs:

(1) a grant of voluntary departure expires; (2) an IJ enters an order of deportation

without granting voluntary departure or other relief and the alien waives the right

to appeal; (3) the BIA enters an order of deportation on appeal, without granting

voluntary departure or other relief; or (4) a federal district or appellate court

14
affirms an administrative order of deportation in a petition for review or habeas

corpus action. See 8 C.F.R. § 241.33(a) (2001) (emphasis added).3 There can be

no question that the panel’s decision in the related case affirmed the BIA’s final

administrative order of deportation for Al Najjar, and that order was final and

executable as soon as the mandate issued.4

Moreover, the fact that this Court previously granted a stay of deportation

does not affect the finality of the order now that the panel has rejected Al Najjar’s

merits appeal in the related case. The stay was valid only pending a final

determination by the appellate panel. As this Court’s predecessor has explained,

the issuance of a mandate in a case automatically terminates a stay entered pending

resolution of the appeal. See Texas & New Orleans R.R. v. B’hood of R.R.

3
Although put into effect pursuant to IIRIRA, this regulation was explicitly made
retroactive to apply to all proceedings commenced before April 1, 1997. See 8 C.F.R. § 241.30
(“Subpart C of 8 CFR part 241 applies to deportation proceedings commenced prior to April 1,
1997.”).
4
The government submits the district court erred in failing to recognize that the BIA’s
affirmance of the immigration judge’s deportation order was already a final order of deportation
under immigration law that triggered the application of regulations which authorized detention of
Al Najjar, vested jurisdiction over his custody status in the INS District Director, and afforded
additional deference to the Attorney General’s parole decisions, see 8 C.F.R. §§ 212.5, 236.1(d),
241.33(a). The government also suggests that the framework the district court used to analyze
Al Najjar’s due process rights was inconsistent with the district court’s earlier recognition in its
own opinion that, under 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(47)(B), Al Najjar was subject to a final deportation
order when the BIA affirmed his deportation order on October 26, 1999. See 97 F. Supp. 2d at
1341. We need not reach this issue because in any event the November 13th mandate
undoubtedly constituted a final order affirming Al Najjar’s deportation.

15
Trainmen, 307 F.2d 151 (5th Cir. 1962).5 The logic behind this rule is quite

simple: “[W]hen this Court’s mandate issues, the appeal will no longer be pending

and a final order on appeal will have been entered. Hence, by its terms, the [stay]

will terminate upon the issuance of this Court’s mandate.” Id. at 162. Indeed,

when Al Najjar requested a stay of deportation, he asked only (and could ask only)

that the bar to his deportation remain in effect “during the pendency of this

matter,” or, phrased another way, “pending resolution of this Petition for Review.”

Quite simply, because the mandate has issued, the stay of deportation is necessarily

vacated and Al Najjar is subject to a final order of deportation. See also 8 C.F.R. §

242.2(e) (1995) (stating that, when an alien who has been released pending a final

order of deportation is taken into custody, “any outstanding bond shall be revoked

and cancelled”).6

5
In Bonner v. City of Prichard, 661 F.2d 1206, 1209 (11th Cir. 1981) (en banc), the
Eleventh Circuit adopted as binding precedent all Fifth Circuit decisions handed down prior to
the close of business on September 30, 1981.
6
In this regard, we also observe that section 309(c)(1) of IIRIRA provided that “[s]ubject
to the succeeding provisions of this subsection, in the case of an alien who is in exclusion or
deportation proceedings before the title III-A effective date [April 1, 1997] (A) the amendments
made by this subtitle shall not apply, and (B) the proceedings (including judicial review thereof)
shall continue to be conducted without regard to such amendments.” 8 U.S.C. § 1101 note
(emphasis added). However, the succeeding provision in § 309(c)(4)(F), created an exception to
this rule for transitional changes in judicial review applicable here, directing that “service of the
petition for review shall not stay the deportation of an alien pending the court’s decision on the
petition, unless the court orders otherwise.” Id. Thus, under IIRIRA’s transitional rules in §
309(c)(4)(F), as well as IIRIRA’s permanent rules in 8 U.S.C. § 1252(b)(3)(B), the service of a
petition for judicial review does not stay the execution of a deportation order, which is why Al
Najjar needed to ask this Court to stay the BIA’s deportation order.

16
 Now that the mandate has issued, the stay has terminated, and a final order

has been entered, the government has the plain and unmistakable power to detain

Al Najjar in order to execute the BIA’s deportation order. Notably, this basis for

detention is completely unrelated to any allegation that Al Najjar poses a threat to

the national security due to his connections to the PIJ and wholly independent of

the review of any classified information. See 8 U.S.C. § 1252(c) (1995); 8 U.S.C.

§ 1231(a)(2) (2002); 8 C.F.R. § 241.33(a) (2001). While it is possible that issues

may arise later regarding how long the Attorney General can detain Al Najjar in

furtherance of the execution of a final deportation order, it remains clear that the

Attorney General now has the authority to detain Al Najjar without regard to any

classified information.7

Indeed, the federal regulation governing detention emphasizes that aliens

subject to deportation as a result of proceedings commenced before April 1, 1997

should generally be taken into custody and detained, with the discretion to release

them entrusted to the INS District Director: “Except in the exercise of discretion by

the district director, and for such reasons as are set forth in § 212.5(b) of this

chapter, once an order of deportation becomes final, an alien shall be taken into

7
This authority is granted to the Attorney General under both pre- and post-IIRIRA law,
and this case, involving a bond redetermination prior to a final and executable deportation order,
plainly does not present the question of how long the Attorney General can detain an alien in
order to execute a final deportation order. Thus, we do not address that issue here.

17
custody and the order shall be executed.” 8 C.F.R. § 241.33(a) (2001). We

reiterate that, under the statute and regulations governing post-final order

detention, the Attorney General, acting through the District Director, has the

authority to take Al Najjar into custody without relying in any way on the

allegation that Al Najjar presents a national security threat.

Because the Attorney General now has the unfettered power to detain Al

Najjar, it is utterly unnecessary to take up the question addressed by the district

court -- whether classified information can be used to deny bond in a pre-final

order detention hearing. In fact, the “case or controversy” requirement of Article

III unambiguously forbids us from considering the question in the absence of a live

dispute. Any opinion on the matter would be purely advisory. See, e.g., Florida

Ass’n of Rehab. Facilities, 225 F.3d at 1217. This appeal is therefore moot.

The former Fifth Circuit recognized this basic principle in binding precedent

fifty years ago, when, in one of the first cases decided under the INA of 1952,8 it

dismissed as moot an alien’s habeas corpus petition seeking release on bond after a

final order of deportation was entered: “We think it clear . . . that the deportation

order is now final; that the question raised by his appeal, whether the court erred in

8
Although the Fifth Circuit’s opinion does not discuss the background of the case, a
subsequent opinion from the Southern District of New York filed after Spinella’s deportation
described the history of his case and explained that he was deported under the INA of 1952. See
Spinella v. Esperdy, 188 F. Supp. 535, 536-37 (S.D.N.Y. 1960).

18
denying him bond pending the deportation proceedings, has become moot; and that

the appeal should be dismissed.” United States ex rel. Spinella v. Savoretti, 201

F.2d 364 (5th Cir. 1953). Although immigration law has changed in many ways

since 1953, this case is moot for precisely the same reason enunciated in Spinella.

The government currently has the unmistakable power to take Al Najjar into

custody and deport him from the United States.

To the extent either party suggests that the appeal is not yet moot because

there exists at least the possibility that the question of classified material could

arise again in the future, we remain unpersuaded. In essence, this contention

amounts to an argument that we should apply the mootness doctrine’s narrow

exception for controversies that are capable of repetition yet evading review. This

argument fails because the controversy at issue in the district court’s opinion

cannot arise again necessarily, as Al Najjar is now, and will be, subject to a final

order of deportation.

Once a final order of deportation is entered, an alien who may seek bond

must do so through a process entirely distinct from that used before a final order is

in place. While bond proceedings before a final order are handled by an IJ in

adversary proceedings with appeal to the BIA, see 8 C.F.R. § 242.2(d) (1995),

bond after the entry of a final order is obtained solely at the discretion of the

19
District Director. See 8 C.F.R. § 241.33(a) (2001); see also In re Valles, 21 I. & N.

Dec. 769, 772 (BIA 1997) (“[Indeed,] an Immigration Judge is divested of

jurisdiction over a bond proceeding . . . upon the entry of an administratively final

order of deportation. In [this case], jurisdiction over bond proceedings vests with

the district director.”). Simply put, a post-final order bond determination is a

completely different entity presented to a completely different decision-maker on a

wholly different foundation than the pre-final order bond determination that is the

subject of this appeal.

The narrow exception for actions that are capable of repetition yet evading

review applies only in the exceptional circumstance in which the same controversy

will recur and there will be inadequate time to litigate it prior to its cessation. See,

e.g., Sierra Club, 110 F.3d at 1554. Neither claim has any merit. At this time, we

may not hypothesize whether circumstances will eventually require that the

question of confidential information be addressed. The mere possibility that this

may happen cannot justify the exercise of jurisdiction over the case. See

Westmoreland v. Nat’l Transp. Safety Bd., 833 F.2d 1461, 1463 (11th Cir. 1987)

(explaining that potential for harm must be more than “speculative” for mootness

exception to apply). Moreover, should any review somehow become necessary,

there is no reason to believe that there will be either inadequate time or an

20
inadequate forum in which to litigate the issue. The narrow exception to the

mootness doctrine simply does not apply here.

When a case becomes moot on appeal, under controlling law the Court of

Appeals must not only dismiss the case, but also vacate the district court’s order.

This practice “clears the path for future relitigation of the issues between the

parties and eliminates a judgment, review of which was prevented through

happenstance.” Atlanta Gas Light Co. v. Fed. Energy Regulatory Comm’n, 140

F.3d 1392, 1402 (11th Cir. 1998) (quoting United States v. Munsingwear, 340 U.S.

36, 40, 71 S. Ct. 104, 107 (1950)). As this Court has explained, the policy of

vacating the underlying district court order is “premised on the equitable principle

that ‘a party who seeks review of the merits of an adverse ruling, but is frustrated

by the vagaries of circumstance, ought not in fairness be forced to acquiesce in the

judgment.’” Id. at 1403 (quoting U.S. Bancorp Mortgage Co. v. Bonner Mail

P’ship, 513 U.S. 18, 25, 115 S. Ct. 386, 391 (1994)). It is only the “vagaries of

circumstance,” namely that a final order of deportation has been entered, the

mandate has issued, and the stay of deportation terminated, that prevent this Court

from deciding the instant appeal. The government should not be forced to

acquiesce in the district court’s judgment without having a chance for the merits of

that judgment to be resolved on appeal. Similarly, to the extent he is challenging

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the district court’s statutory ruling on his cross-appeal, Al Najjar should not be

forced to acquiesce in a moot, adverse decision. The district court order is

therefore vacated, and it can have no precedential value. Similarly, the bond

decision of the IJ, entered on remand from the district court’s order, is also vacated

as moot.

Without jurisdiction, we are barred from reaching the merits of the Attorney

General’s appeal and Al Najjar’s cross-appeal. Our decision does not detract from

the recognition that this case, if live, would raise a number of extremely significant

issues involving immigration law and procedure, national security and classified

information, and due process of law. For example, the government says that the

district court erred in declining to follow this court’s decision in United States ex

rel. Barbour, 491 F.2d 573 (5th Cir. 1974), which rejected an alien’s contentions

that the consideration of ex parte security risk information violated his due process

rights; and in concluding that the prospect of discretionary relief in a bond

redetermination hearing after the IJ has issued a deportation order creates a liberty

interest from which due process protections arise; and that it improperly

considered, and then inadequately weighed, the factors under Mathews v. Eldridge,

424 U.S. 319, 96 S. Ct. 893, 47 L. Ed. 2d 18 (1976), concerning the risk of an

erroneous adjudication and the government’s interest in protecting national

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security without so much as even examining the confidential evidence at issue; and

that it wrongly concluded that the procedures used by the IJ were insufficient even

though Al Najjar received a summary of the confidential material and had an

opportunity to rebut it; and, finally, that it disregarded the Attorney General’s

discretion in holding that the INS would have to show more than mere membership

in or affiliation with a terrorist group in order to detain Al Najjar. As compelling

as these issues may be, any opinion on our part would be purely advisory and

wholly unnecessary in the absence of a live controversy, and the constitutional

limitation of a case or controversy bars us from setting down that road.

IV.

In sum, the government’s appeal and Al Najjar’s cross-appeal must be and

are DISMISSED as moot, and the order of the district court and the resulting bond

decision of the Immigration Judge are hereby VACATED.

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