In United States v. Hernandez-Garcia, --- F.4th ---, No. 20-50228 (9th Cir. 2022), the Court affirmed a conviction for illegal reentry after deportation.
The case began when a Marine Corps surveillance unit spotted Hernandez-Garcia immediately after he entered the United States, and notified Customs and Border Patrol agents who soon detained him.
Hernandez-Garcia argued that the Marine Corps surveillance violated the Posse Comitatus Act, which codified the longstanding prohibition against military enforcement of civilian law.
The Court disagreed: "the Posse Comitatus Act posed no obstacle to the U.S. Marines assistance because Section 1059 of the 2016 NDAA expressly authorizes surveillance by the military at the southern border." In short, the Court held there was no violation of the Posse Comitatus Act because Congress specifically authorized the Marines to do what they did in this case.
Next, the Court rejected Hernandez-Garcia's Batson claim. The Court "acknowledge[d] that the district court’s oral Batson ruling is not a paragon of clarity." But "conclude[d] that Hernandez-Garcia did not prove that the prosecution purposefully discriminated against Asian jurors."
