Barahona-Gomez
Barahona-Gomez v. Reno
Opinion
Dissenting Opinion
Hall, J.
dissenting.
I dissent because the district court lacks jurisdiction to consider plaintiffs’ claims under the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (“IIRIRA”), Pub.L. No. 104-208, 110 Stat. 3009, amended by Act of Oct. 11, 1996, Pub.L. No. 104-302, 110 Stat. 3656 (codified in part at 8 U.S.C. § 1252(g) (Supp. II 1996)). At the very least, we should defer this case pending the Supreme Court’s decision in American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Comm. v. Reno. 119 F.3d 1367 (9th Cir.1997), cert. granted, — U.S. -, 118 S.Ct. 2059 , 141 L.Ed.2d 137 (1998).
The plain language of 8 U.S.C. § 1252 (g) clearly deprives the district court, and this Court, of jurisdiction over the instant matter. The statute states in relevant part:
8 U.S.C. § 1252 (g) (Supp. II 1996).
Section 1252(g)’s plain language becomes all the more compelling when one recalls the Supreme Court’s recent statement that “ ‘[f]or reasons long recognized as valid, the responsibility for regulating the relationship between the United States and our alien visitors has been committed to the political branches of the Federal Government. [Ojver no conceivable subject is the legislative power of…
Lead Opinion
Thomas, J.
In this appeal, we consider the propriety of a preliminary injunction enjoining enforcement of an amendment to the Immigration and Naturalization Act (“INA”) which (1) imposes a 4,000 person annual limitation on the number of suspensions of deportation and adjustments of status that the Attorney General may grant in each fiscal year, and (2) provides that a person’s accumulation of time towards the continuous physical presence requirement for suspension of deportation ends when he or she is served with a notice to appear. We conclude that the district court had jurisdiction to enter the injunction and its issuance was not an abuse of discretion. We affirm the district court’s notice and bond requirements, but remand in light of the passage of the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act.
I.
The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (“IIRIRA”), Pub.L. No. 104-208, 110 Stat. 3009 (1996), as amended by Act of Oct. 11, 1996, Pub.L. No. 104-302, 110 Stat. 3666, made a number of organic changes to immigration law. This appeal concerns the confluence of two of them: (1) a new absolute annual limitation on the number of deportation suspensions…