Sharif ex rel. Sharif v. Ashcroft, 01-2870.

• Decision Date: 11 February 2002
• Docket Number: No. 01-2870.,01-2870.
• Citation: 280 F.3d 786
• Parties: Umme S. SHARIF and Umme N. Sharif, by their guardian Muhammad SHARIF, Petitioners-Appellants, v. John D. ASHCROFT, Attorney General of the United States, et al., Respondents-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit

280 F.3d 786

Umme S. SHARIF and Umme N. Sharif, by their guardian Muhammad SHARIF, Petitioners-Appellants, v. John D. ASHCROFT, Attorney General of the United States, et al., Respondents-Appellees.

No. 01-2870.

United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.

Argued January 9, 2002.

Decided February 11, 2002.

Christopher W. Helt (argued), Chicago, IL, for Petitioners-Appellants.

Papu Sandhu (argued), Dept. of Justice, Civ. Div., Immigration Litigation, Washington, DC, for Respondents-Appellees.

Before FLAUM, Chief Judge, and WOOD, JR., and EASTERBROOK, Circuit Judges.

EASTERBROOK, Circuit Judge.

Twin sisters Umme N. Sharif and Umme S. Sharif were ordered removed to Pakistan when they failed to appear for hearings. The Sharifs did not seek judicial review in the court of appeals under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a). A bag-and-baggage letter was issued and ignored. Later the sisters asked the district court to issue a writ of habeas corpus that would stop the INS from implementing the removal orders. The district court held that it lacked jurisdiction. 2001 WL 668958, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8475 (N.D. Ill. June 13, 2001). It was right.

INS v. St. Cyr, 533 U.S. 289, 121 S.Ct. 2271, 150 L.Ed.2d 347 (2001), holds that recent amendments to the Immigration and Nationality Act do not foreclose all use by aliens of 28 U.S.C. § 2241, the general habeas corpus statute. But St. Cyr does not disturb the holding of Reno v. American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, 525 U.S. 471, 119 S.Ct. 936, 142 L.Ed.2d 940 (1999), that 8 U.S.C. § 1252(g) blocks review in the district court of particular kinds of administrative decisions. Section 1252(g) reads:

Except as provided in this section and notwithstanding any other provision of law, no court shall have jurisdiction to hear any cause or claim by or on behalf of any alien arising from the decision or action by the Attorney General to commence proceedings, adjudicate cases, or execute removal orders against any alien under this chapter.

American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee held that the three categories of actions mentioned in this statute — decisions to "commence proceedings, adjudicate cases, or execute removal orders" — must not be expanded by the judiciary, but that within its scope the statute is conclusive. The "[e]xcept as otherwise provided" clause that opens § 1252(g) allows review of removal orders in the courts of appeals, see § 1252(a)(1), but review by district courts is not "otherwise provided in this section" and therefore is blocked. See Chapinski v. Ziglar, 278 F.3d 718 (7th Cir.2002); Bhatt v. Reno, 204 F.3d 744 (7th Cir.1999).

According to the Sharifs, they do not want the district judge to review a decision by the Attorney General to execute the removal orders. Instead they just want the judge to "stay" execution of those orders while they seek additional administrative review, or apply for relief under the recently enacted Legal Immigration Family Equity Act, Pub.L. 106-553, 114 Stat. 2762 (2000). But § 1252(g) does not differentiate among kinds of relief. It names three administrative actions — decisions to "commence proceedings, adjudicate cases, or execute removal orders" — and interdicts all judicial review "arising from" those actions, unless some other part of § 1252 allows review. A request for a stay of removal "arises from" the Attorney General's decision (reflected by the bag-and-baggage letter) to execute a removal order. This is so whether the Sharifs seek a stay of removal pending administrative reconsideration (they have sought reopening) or pending a decision under the new legislation (their father Muhammad Sharif has sought relief under § 1104 of Pub.L. 106-553, and, if his request is granted, the twins may become entitled to benefits under § 1504 of that Act). Muhammad Sharif's application under Pub.L. 106-553 also is a demand to adjudicate a claim, and as we held in Chapinski with respect to another statute authorizing relief for some removable aliens (the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act of 1997), a district court lacks jurisdiction to compel the Attorney General to initiate or resolve proceedings that would lead to relief from removal.

For...