Case 5:17-cv-01105-FB-HJB Document 16 Filed 11/02/17 Page 1 of 3

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
SAN ANTONIO DIVISION

R.M.H., a minor, and FELIPA DE LA CRUZ,

as her next friend and on her own behalf,

Petitioners,

V. CIVIL ACTION NO. SA-17-CA-1105-FB

SCOTT LLOYD, Director, Office of Refugee
Resettlement, in his Official Capacity;
THANE BISHOP, Facility Director, BCFS
Health and Human Services SAC ICS
Shelter, in his Official Capacity;
STEVEN WAGNER, Acting Assistant
Secretary, Administration for Children
and Families, in his Official Capacity;
ERIC HARGAN, Acting Secretary,
U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, in his Official Capacity;
MANUEL PADILLA, JR., Chief Patrol
Agent-in-Charge, Rio Grande Valley
Sector, U.S. Border Patrol, in his Official
Capacity; MARIO MARTINEZ, Chief
Patrol Agent-in-Charge, Laredo Sector,
U.S. Border Patrol, in his Official Capacity;
KEVIN McALEENAN, Acting
Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border
Protection, in his Official Capacity; and
ELAINE C. DUKE, Acting Secretary,
Department of Homeland Security, in her
Official Capacity,

Respondents.

ORDER CANCELLING HEARING AND FURTHER ORDERS OF THE COURT

Before the Court is the matter of the hearing on petitioners motion for temporary restraining

order seeking to alter the status quo of the minors custodial status presently in the custody of the Office

of Refugee Resettlement. Since having set the hearing for Tuesday, November 7, 2017, the government
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has indicated it would file a written response by Friday, November 3, 2017. Petitioners shall have until

Monday, November 6, 2017, at 5 p.m., to reply.

Because temporary restraining order requests are usually addressed on the pleadings, the Court

has decided to postpone any hearing until such time as the Court determines if it is even necessary.

From the pleadings presently before the Court filed by petitioners, it appears to be admitted that

R.M.H., a minor, and her mother, Felipa De La Cruz, are in the United States illegally. The well settled

standard for obtaining extraordinary injunctive relief, whether temporary, preliminary or permanent,

is to show, among other things, a substantial likelihood of success on the merits and, at the permanent

injunction stage, that the minor child and her mother would prevail on the merits, i.e., to remain in the

United States. See Lewis v. S.S. Baune, 534 F.2d 1115, 1121 (5th Cir. 1976).

The Court assumes for purposes of this discussion that petitioners have shown a substantial

threat of irreparable injury. However, the Court is not satisfied at this time that the public interest

would not be impaired if the immigration laws are not enforced or enforced only selectively. See

Enrique Bernat F., S.A. v. Guadalajara, Inc., 201 F.3d 439, 442 (5th Cir. 2000).

Significantly important to the Court is whether R.M.H. and her mother, Felipa De La Cruz, will

have success on the merits in being allowed to stay in the United States notwithstanding their illegal

status. While the Court has great empathy for R.M.H. and her mother, the law does not allow the Court

to pick and choose the application of legal standards based on empathy.

Accordingly, the hearing presently set for November 7, 2017, is CANCELLED.

Petitioners are requested to address the Courts inquiry of how R.M.H. and her mother will be

successful on the overarching issue of the law and their illegal status. It would also be helpful if the

government would advise the Court as to why Felipa De La Cruz has not been apprehended and subject

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to the same deportation procedures as apparently are underway for R.M.H. Mother and daughter then

could be successfully reunited in their home country.

The government is ORDERED to respond by Monday, November 6, 2017, at 5 p.m., to

petitioners latest filing, the Opposed Motion to Advance Hearing on Motion for Temporary Restraining

Order (docket no. 14), specifically to address the actual physical location of R.M.H. and what

specialized medical care is being provided to her given her recent surgery and cerebral palsy.

It is so ORDERED.

SIGNED this 2nd day of November, 2017.

_________________________________________________
FRED BIERY
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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