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CHRISTIAN HEALTHCARE CENTERS, INC. (23-1769);
SACRED HEART OF JESUS PARISH, GRAND RAPIDS,
JERRY HATLEY, ROBIN HATLEY, JOSEPH BOUTELL,
RENEE BOUTELL, PETER UGOLINI, and KATIE UGOLINI
(23-1781); ST. JOSEPH PARISH ST. JOHNS (23-1860),
Plaintiffs-Appellants,
v.
DANA NESSEL, et al.,
Defendants-Appellees. |
Nos. 23-1769/1781/1860 |
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Western District of Michigan at Grand Rapids.
Nos. 1:22-cv-00787; 1:22-cv-01214; 1:22-cv-01154—Jane M. Beckering, District Judge.
Argued: June 11, 2024
Decided and Filed: September 20, 2024
Before: WHITE, STRANCH, and MURPHY, Circuit Judges.
_________________________
OPINION
_________________________
JANE B. STRANCH, Circuit Judge. In these three related cases, Plaintiffs—Christian
Healthcare Centers, a medical service ministry; Sacred Heart of Jesus, a Catholic school joined
by several of the school’s parents; and St. Joseph Parish St. Johns, a Catholic parish operating a
school—challenge aspects of Michigan’s antidiscrimination laws. They allege that Michigan’s
laws chill their speech and conduct in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The
district court dismissed each case for want of standing, reasoning that no Plaintiff had shown that
Michigan’s laws arguably proscribed its speech or conduct and that, in the alternative, there was
no credible threat that Michigan would enforce its laws against any Plaintiff.
We agree only in part. Michigan’s laws arguably forbid several of Plaintiffs’ pleaded
activities. And although the threat of enforcement analysis is more nuanced, we conclude that
two Plaintiffs—Christian Healthcare and Sacred Heart—have plausibly established a credible
threat that Defendants will enforce against them at least some of the challenged provisions of
Michigan’s laws. Finally, we leave to the district court the task of evaluating Plaintiffs’ requests
for injunctive relief in the first instance. All told, the district court’s decisions are AFFIRMED
IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED. |
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BEKY IZAMAR MAZARIEGOS-RODAS; ENGLY YERAICY
MAZARIEGOS-RODAS,
Petitioners,
v.
MERRICK B. GARLAND, Attorney General,
Respondent. |
No. 21-4064 |
On Petition for Review from the Board of Immigration Appeals.
Nos. A 208 174 902; A 208 174 903.
Argued: July 23, 2024
Decided and Filed: September 20, 2024
Before: GILMAN, GRIFFIN, and MATHIS, Circuit Judges.
_________________________
OPINION
_________________________
RONALD LEE GILMAN, Circuit Judge. Beky Izamar Mazariegos-Rodas and Engly
Yeraicy Mazariegos-Rodas (collectively, the Petitioners) are two sisters who are natives and
citizens of Guatemala. The Petitioners, who were left behind in Guatemala as young children
after their parents entered the United States without inspection in 2009, fled to this country in
2015 after gang members threatened to maim and kill them. They also entered the United States
without inspection, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) placed them into removal
proceedings shortly thereafter.
Appearing before an immigration judge (IJ), the Petitioners applied for asylum and
withholding of removal under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. §§ 1158,
1231(b)(3). The IJ denied the Petitioners’ applications, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA)
dismissed their appeal, and the Petitioners filed a timely petition for review with this court. They
contend that (1) the IJ’s bias against the Petitioners’ mother violated their due-process rights,
(2) the IJ erred in concluding that the Petitioners’ proposed particular social group (PSG) of
“Guatemalan female children without parental protection” is not cognizable, and (3) the BIA
erred in concluding that there is no nexus between the harm that the Petitioners suffered and their
other proposed PSG of “the Rodas family.”
The Petitioners’ arguments regarding due-process and the “Guatemalan female children
without parental protection” PSG were not raised before the BIA and are thus unreviewable, but
the BIA’s no-nexus determination with regard to “the Rodas family” PSG is inconsistent with
this court’s precedents. We therefore GRANT the petition for review in part, DISMISS it in
part, VACATE the BIA’s denial of the Petitioners’ application for asylum and withholding of
removal, and REMAND for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. |
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