Maldonado v. Lynch, ___ F.3d ___, 2015 WL 2343051 (9th Cir. May 18, 2015) (the petition for review was not moot notwithstanding petitioners removal after filing his petition for review, because there was solid evidence that the petitioner was currently present in the United States, seeking relief from removal to Mexico to avoid being killed, and thus continues to have a stake in the outcome of the petition for review).
The court stated:
When there are developments in a proceeding that suggest that it may be moot, we have an obligation to inquire whether a case or controversy under Article III of the Constitution continues to exist. North Carolina v. Rice, 404 U.S. 244, 246, 92 S.Ct. 402, 30 L.Ed.2d 413 (1971) (per curiam). Of concern here is Maldonado's removal to Mexico after he filed his petition for review. After considering the government's response to our concern, we conclude that our review of Maldonado's petition has not been rendered moot by his removal.
Mootness is a jurisdictional issue. Blandino"Medina v. Holder, 712 F.3d 1338, 1341 (9th Cir.2013). It can be described as the doctrine of standing set in a time frame. Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Envtl. Servs. (TOC), Inc., 528 U.S. 167, 189, 120 S.Ct. 693, 145 L.Ed.2d 610 (2000) (quoting Arizonans for Official English v. Arizona, 520 U.S. 43, 68 n.22, 117 S.Ct. 1055, 137 L.Ed.2d 170 (1997)). For a dispute to remain live without being dismissed as moot, [t]he parties must continue to have a personal stake in the outcome of the lawsuit. Lewis v. Cont'l Bank Corp., 494 U.S. 472, 478, 110 S.Ct. 1249, 108 L.Ed.2d 400 (1990) (internal quotation marks omitted).
(Id. at ___ [footnote omitted].)