In a narrow, textualist decision, the Supreme Court today agreed with Nidal Khalid Nasrallah that a federal court of appeals has jurisdiction to review, albeit deferentially, the factual basis of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ denial of his claim that he qualifies for protection under the Convention Against Torture.
Nidal Khalid Nasrallah seeks the United States’ protection under the Convention Against Torture. An immigration judge found that he qualified for deferral of removal under the CAT.
Flag of Lebanon In 1996, Congress enacted a number of provisions limiting judicial review of immigration court decisions.
In Nielsen v. Preap, four justices joined Justice Samuel Alito yesterday to adopt an expansive interpretation of a mandatory-immigration-detention statute.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in the case of Nielsen v. Preap, which involves a challenge to the government’s interpretation of one of the Immigration and Nationality Act’s detention provisions: 8 U.S.C. § 1226(c).
Photo provided by Juan Magdaleno In 1996, Congress revised and expanded the detention provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Since that time, immigration detention has skyrocketed. In 1996, the average number of immigrant detainees on any given day was 7,474.
Eight justices sided with Wescley Fonseca Pereira in his argument that a government-issued document notifying him of the government’s intention to initiate removal proceedings against him did not stop the clock on his continuous physical presence in the United States, leaving him eligible for potential relief from removal.
Pereira v. Sessions, which was argued yesterday morning, implicates two questions, one narrow and one broad. The narrow question is a basic one of statutory interpretation.
Pereira v. Sessions is not the immigration case that everyone will be watching this month, but it is definitely worth a glance. At first blush, this case looks like a hyper-technical and relatively dull issue of statutory interpretation. But looks are deceiving.