UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA TIMOTHY DUGDALE, Plaintiff, v. Case No. 1:17-cv-00418 (CRC) CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, et al., Defendants. MEMORANDUM OPINION Plaintiff Timothy Dugdale filed this pro se petition for habeas corpus on March 8, 2017. The petition relates to an earlier habeas petition filed by Mr. Dugdale in this Court, in which he challenged among other things an expedited removal order entered against him by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”). See Dugdale v. CBP, 88 F. Supp. 3d 1 (D.D.C. 2015). The Court in 2015 partially granted CBP’s motion to dismiss that petition. See id. Before the action could proceed any further, however, CBP informed the Court that it had vacated Mr. Dugdale’s removal order and contended that the case was therefore moot. The Court agreed and dismissed the action in its entirety. See Dugdale v. CBP, 2015 WL 2124937 (D.D.C. May 6, 2015). The D.C. Circuit affirmed that dismissal. Dugdale v. Lynch, 672 F. App’x 35 (D.C. Cir. Oct. 25, 2016). In the habeas petition currently before the Court, Mr. Dugdale alleges that the vacated removal order continues to adversely affect him, and thus seeks to have the order “expunged” from his record. He also requests a declaratory judgment stating that he is a U.S. citizen.1 This Dugdale has filed his motion for declaratory judgment “independent of [his] habeas 1 petition” but without paying the filing fee applicable to non-habeas civil actions. Mot. Declaratory Judgment at 2. The Court will consider this motion in the interest of judicial Court previously held that, whatever the merits of Dugdale’s claims, his action was not a proper habeas petition and ordered him to pay the filing fee for civil actions in order for the case to proceed. See Minute Order, May 16, 2017. But after Mr. Dugdale moved for reconsideration, the Court allowed the case to proceed as a habeas petition “so as to give petitioner an opportunity to establish that the Court has jurisdiction over his claim, pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252(e)(2) or otherwise, that he is entitled to ‘expungement’ of the vacated order of expedited removal and associated monetary relief.” Minute Order, June 9, 2017. The Government subsequently moved to dismiss Dugdale’s petition, and Dugdale responded.2 After considering both parties’ arguments, the Court will dismiss the case in its entirety. To the extent Mr. Dugdale seeks to bring this latest petition under the general federal habeas statute, 28 U.S.C. § 2241, both this Court and the Sixth Circuit have already made clear to Mr. Dugdale that a district court lacks jurisdiction over such a petition if the petitioner is not “in custody” when he files it. Minute Order, May 16, 2017; Dugdale v. CBP, No. 13–1976 (6th Cir. Apr. 7, 2014). Despite offering some creative arguments to the contrary, Dugdale still is not in custody, and thus cannot bring a habeas petition under § 2241. Dugdale’s other claims are presumably brought under the REAL ID Act of 2005, 8 U.S.C. § 1252(e)(2), ...
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