Naranjo-Aguilera
Naranjo-Aguilera v. U.S. Immigration & Naturalization Service
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Fletcher, J.
Opinion by Judge FLETCHER.
This is a class action challenge to Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) interpretations of a provision of the Special Agricultural Workers legalization program created by the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), as amended by the Immigration Nursing Relief Act of 1989 (INRA). The class members are immigrant agricultural workers who were denied lawful temporary resident status, or had such status terminated, because they had been convicted of one felony or three misdemeanors. They argue that the INS regulations and policies which mandated the denial or termination of their temporary resident status are unlawful interpretations of the one felony/three misdemeanor provision of IRCA, 8 U.S.C. § 1160 (a)(3)(B)(ii)(II). The district court rejected the INS’s argument that it did not have jurisdiction to hear this case, and proceeded to grant summary judgment in favor of the class members on some of their claims, and in favor of the INS on others. The INS appeals and the farmworkers cross-appeal, but we do not reach the merits of the district court’s decision on the issues appealed because we hold that it lacked jurisdiction.