US v. Zeledon Hernandez: Zeledon came to the United States, unlawfully, in 2016 from El Salvador, fleeing gang violence. Having made a credible claim for asylum, he was released on bond and given a date for a future hearing. He did not appear for that hearing in 2019, leading to the issuance of a warrant of removal. That warrant was not executed until 2023, when Zeledon was arrested for DUI in Virginia. Convinced he’d be killed in El Salvador, Zeledon escaped prior to his deportation, only to be caught a few days later.
The Government initially charged Zeledon in a complaint with escape and acting to prevent his departure following a final order of removal. When it indicted him, however, it charged him with escape and corruptly obstructing a “pending proceeding,” rather that preventing his departure. The district court denied Zeledon’s motion to dismiss the obstruction charge, concluding that there was still a “pending proceeding” when he escaped, but acquitted him of the escape itself because it did not fit the bounds of the statute.
A divided Fourth Circuit reversed the denial of Zeledon’s motion to dismiss the obstruction count. At issue is whether the ICE enforcement of the removal order constituted a “pending proceeding.” The court held that it did not, noting that both the plain meaning of “proceeding” and the statutory context involved showed that the proceeding ended with the issuance of the order of removal in 2019. It rejected the Government’s argument that the ICE enforcement of the order itself was a “proceeding” under the statute. The court did note that Zeledon’s conduct would have been covered by the “acting to prevent his departure” charge from the original complaint.
Judge Wilkinson dissented, adopting the Government’s position that there was still a pending proceeding in the form of ICE enforcement.
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