Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Bagamasbad

• Citation: 50 L.Ed.2d 190,97 S.Ct. 200,429 U.S. 24
• Decision Date: 01 November 1976
• Docket Number: No. 75-1666,75-1666
• Parties: IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE v. Norma Andalis BAGAMASBAD
• Court: United States Supreme Court

429 U.S. 24

97 S.Ct. 200

50 L.Ed.2d 190

IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE

v Norma Andalis BAGAMASBAD.

No. 75-1666.

Nov. 1, 1976.

PER CURIAM.

Respondent, an alien who had overstayed her tourist visa by four years, applied to have her status adjusted to that of permanent resident alien pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1255(a). That section authorizes the Attorney General in his discretion to change the status of an alien who is physically present in the United States to that of a permanent resident, but only if, among other things, the alien would be eligible for an immigrant visa and admissible into the United States as a permanent resident.^* The District Director of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) denied respondent's application as a matter of discretion because she had made serious misrepresentations to the United States consul who had issued her visa. For the same reasons, the immigration judge presiding at a later deportation hearing also declined to exercise his discretion in her favor. Neither the District Director nor the immigration judge addressed himself to whether respondent satisfied the specific statutory requirements for permanent residence. The Board of Immigration Appeals affirmed, finding that the circumstances fully supported the discretionary denial of relief and concluding that "the immigration judge could properly pretermit the question of statutory eligibility and deny the application . . . as an exercise of discretion."

A divided Court of Appeals sitting en banc held that although the immigration judge had properly exercised his discretion to deny respondent's application, the statute required the judge to make findings and reach conclusions with respect to respondent's eligibility for admission into this country as a permanent resident. 531 F.2d 111 (CA3 1976). Disagreeing as we do with the Court of Appeals, we grant the petition for certiorari filed by the INS and the motion by respondent to proceed in forma pauperis and reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals.

(1, 2) As a general rule courts and agencies are not required to make findings on issues the decision of which is unnecessary to the results they reach. Hirabayashi v. United States, 320 U.S. 81, 85, 63 S.Ct. 1375, 1378, 87 L.Ed. 1774 (1943); Silva v. Carter, 326 F.2d 315 (CA9 1963) cert. denied, 377 U.S. 917, 84 S.Ct. 1181, 12 L.Ed.2d 186 (1964); Goon Wing Wah v. INS, 386 F.2d 292 (CA1 1967); De Lucia v. INS, 370 F.2d 305, 308 (CA7 1966), cert. denied, 386 U.S. 912, 87 S.Ct. 861, 17 L.Ed.2d 784 (1967). Here, it is conceded that respondent's application would have been properly denied whether or not she satisfied the statutory eligibility requirements. In these circumstances, absent an express statutory requirement, we see no reason to depart from the general rule and require the immigration judge to arrive at purely advisory findings and conclusions as to statutory eligibility.

In arriving at its contrary conclusion, the Court of Appeals relied on a dictum in Jay v. Boyd, 351 U.S. 345, 76 S.Ct. 919, 100 L.Ed. 1242 (1956), which involved a similar provision, 8 U.S.C. § 1254(a), authorizing the Attorney General in his discretion to grant relief from deportation if certain eligibility requirements are met. In the course of affirming the discretionary denial of relief, the Court indicated that the statute entitled the applicant to a ruling on his eligibility. But the statement followed a reference to immigration regulations which then expressly required a determination of eligibility in each case. 351 U.S. at 352-353, 76 S.Ct. at 923....