Newyork v. Wolf
| Decision Date | 23 June 2020 |
| Docket Number | No. 19-5298,19-5298 |
| Citation | 962 F.3d 612 |
| Parties | MAKE THE ROAD NEW YORK, et al., Appellees v. Chad F. WOLF, Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, in his official capacity, et al., Appellants |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit |
Scott G. Stewart, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice, argued the cause for appellants. With him on the briefs was Erez Reuveni, Assistant Director, U.S. Department of Justice.
Michael M. Hethmon was on the brief for amicus curiae Immigration Reform Law Institute in support of appellants.
Anand Balakrishnan argued the cause for appellees. With him on the brief were Omar C. Jadwat, Michael Tan, Celso Perez, Trina Realmuto, Kristin Macleod-Ball, Karolina J. Walters, Stephen B. Kang, Julie Veroff, Arthur B. Spitzer, Scott Michelman, Jonathan K. Youngwood, Susannah S. Geltman, Joshua Polster, and Adrienne V. Baxley.
Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General for the State of California, Antonette Benita Cordero, Laura Faer, Vilma Palma-Solana, Anthony Seferian, Deputy Attorneys General, Office of the Attorney General for the State of California, William Tong, Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General for the State of Connecticut, Clare Kindall, Solicitor General for the State of Connecticut, Clare E. Connors, Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General for the State of Hawaii, Kimberly Tsumoto Guidry, Solicitor General for the State of Hawaii, Aaron M. Frey, Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General for the State of Maine, Laura E. Jensen, Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General for the State of Maine, Philip J. Weiser, Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General for the State of Colorado, Eric R. Olson, Solicitor General for the State of Colorado, Kathleen Jennings, Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General for the State of Delaware, Christian Douglas Wright, Director of Impa ct Litigatio n, Office of the Attorne y General fo r the State of Delaware, Kwame Raoul, Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General for the State of Illinois, Sarah A. Hunger, Deputy Solicitor General for the State of Illinois, Maura Healey, Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Robert E. Toone, Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Keith Ellison, Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General for the State of Minnesota, Kathryn Iverson Landrum, Assistant Attorney Gene ral, Office of t he Attorney Gene ral for the Stat e of Minnesota, Gurbir S. Grewal, Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General for the State of New Jersey, Glenn J. Moramarco , Assistant At torney General, Of fice of the Attorn ey General for the State of New Jers ey, Brian E. Frosh, Attorney Gener al, Office of the A ttorney General for the State of Maryl and, Adam D. Snyder, Deputy Chief of Litigation, Office of the Attorney General for the State of Maryland, Dana Nessel, Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General for the State of Michigan, Fadwa A. Hammoud, Solicitor Gene ral for the State of M ichigan, Aaron D. Ford, Attorney General, Offi ce of the Attorney Gene ral for the State of Ne vada, Heidi Parry Stern, Solicitor General for the State of Nevada, Letitia James, Attorney Gene ral, Office of the Attorn ey General for the State of New York, Steven C. Wu, Deputy Solicitor General for the State of New York, Josh Shapiro, Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Aimee D. Thomson, Deputy Attorney General, Office of the Attorney Gen eral for the Commonwealth o f Pennsylvania, Thomas J. D onovan, Jr., Attorney Gene ral, Office of the Attorney General for the State of V ermont, Benjamin D. Battles, Solicitor General for the State of Vermont, Hector Balderas, Attorney General, Office of the A ttorney General for the State of New Mexico, Tania Maestas, Chief Deputy Att orney General, Brian E. McMath, Assistant Attorney General, Office of the At torney General for the State of New Mexico, Ellen F. Rosenblum, Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General for the State of Oregon, Jona Maukonen, Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General for the State of Oregon, Peter F. Neronha, Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General for the State of Rhode Island, Adam D. Roach, Special Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General for the State of Rhode Island, Robert W. Ferguson, Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General for the State of Washington, Noah Guzzo Purcell, Solicitor General for the State of Washing ton, Mark R. Herring, Attorney Genera l, Office of the Atto rney General for the Commonwealth of V irginia, Toby J. H eytens, Solicitor Ge neral for the Co mmonwealth of Virginia, Karl A. Racine, Attorney General, Off ice of the Attorney General for the Dis trict of Columbia, and Loren L. AliKhan, Solicitor General for the District of Columbia, were on the brief for amici curiae The State of California, et al. in support of appellees.
Richard Caldarone, Paul J. Nathanson, and Kenneth L. Wainstein were on the brief for amici curiae The Tahirih Justice Center, et al. in support of appellees.
William J. Trunk and Megan D. Browder were on the brief for amici curiae Former Homeland Security and Immigration Officials in support of appellees.
Before: Millett and Rao, Circuit Judges, and Edwards, Senior Circuit Judge.
Federal law commits to the "sole and unreviewable discretion" of the Secretary of Homeland Security the decision whether to subject certain individuals present in the United States without documentation to "expedited removal." 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(1)(A)(iii)(I). In July 2019, the Secretary decided to expand the reach of the expedited removal process to its statutory limit, sweeping in all individuals without documentation who have resided in the United States for less than two years.
Three organizations whose members are covered by that expansion ("Associations") filed suit, contending that the Secretary's decision violated the Administrative Procedure Act ("APA"), 5 U.S.C. §§ 551 et seq. , the Immigration and Nationality Act ("INA"), 8 U.S.C. §§ 1225(a) – (b), 1362, the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment, U.S. CONST . Amend. V, and the Suspension Clause, U.S. CONST ., Art. I, § 9, cl. 2. The district court granted a preliminary injunction against the expansion based only on the APA claims, leaving the INA and constitutional claims unaddressed.
We hold that the district court properly exercised jurisdiction over the Associations’ case. But because Congress committed the judgment whether to expand expedited removal to the Secretary's "sole and unreviewable discretion," 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(1)(A)(iii)(I), the Secretary's decision is not subject to review under the APA's standards for agency decisionmaking. Nor is it subject to the APA's notice-and-comment rulemaking requirements. For those reasons, we reverse the district court's grant of a preliminary injunction and remand for further proceedings consistent with this decision.
Congress created the process of "expedited removal" as part of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 ("IIRIRA"), Pub. L. No. 104-208, § 302, 110 Stat. 3009 -546, 3009-579 (1996) (codified at 8 U.S.C. §§ 1225, 1252 ). Before IIRIRA, an individual in the United States without proper documentation could be considered "deportable," 8 U.S.C. § 1251(a) (1995), if, among other things, that person had "entered the United States without inspection or at any time or place other than as designated by the Attorney General[,]" see id. § 1251(a)(1)(B) (1995). A determination of deportability entailed a hearing before a special inquiry officer in which the individual had the right to be represented, to examine the government's evidence, and to present evidence on his or her behalf. See id. § 1252(b) (1995). An officer's determination that an individual was deportable was subject to judicial review. See id. § 1105a (1995).
Congress adopted IIRIRA's expedited removal scheme to substantially shorten and speed up the removal process. Expedited removal may be applied to those "who [are] arriving in the United States[,]" 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(1)(A)(i), as well as to individuals who are not admitted or paroled and who have "not affirmatively shown" to the immigration officer's satisfaction that they have been "physically present in the United States continuously for the 2-year period immediately prior to the date of the determination of inadmissibility[,]" id. § 1225(b)(1)(A)(iii)(II). IIRIRA leaves it to the Secretary to designate which groups of individuals who fall within the two-year statutory range will be subject to expedited removal, in a provision we shall refer to as the "Designation Provision." See id. § 1225(b)(1)(A)(iii)(I) () (emphasis added). Any such decision about the scope of expedited removal's operation within statutory limits is expressly committed to the Secretary's "sole and unreviewable discretion," and the Secretary may modify such a decision "at any time." Id.1
Expedited removal lives up to its name. Under IIRIRA, an immigration officer may determine that an individual is inadmissible because she does not have a valid entry document or other suitable travel document, or because she has obtained a visa through misrepresentation. See 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(1)(A)(i) ; see also id. § 1182(a)(6)(C), (7). If that individual falls within the class of persons subject to expedited removal, an immigration "officer shall order the alien removed * * * without further hearing or review unless the alien indicates either an intention to apply for asylum * * * or a fear of persecution." Id. § 1225(b)(1)(A)(i)...
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