Tenacre Foundation v. I.N.S., 95-5294

• Citation: 78 F.3d 693
• Decision Date: 19 March 1996
• Docket Number: No. 95-5294,95-5294
• Parties: TENACRE FOUNDATION, Appellant, v. IMMIGRATION & NATURALIZATION SERVICE and Department of Justice, Appellees.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (District of Columbia)

Page 693

78 F.3d 693

316 U.S.App.D.C. 332

TENACRE FOUNDATION, Appellant, v. IMMIGRATION & NATURALIZATION SERVICE and Department of

Justice, Appellees.

No. 95-5294.

United States Court of Appeals,

District of Columbia Circuit.

Argued March 4, 1996.

Decided March 19, 1996.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (No. 95cv00945).

Lawrence P. Lataif argued the cause and filed the briefs, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, for appellant.

Marina U. Braswell, Assistant United States Attorney, argued the cause for appellee, with whom Eric H. Holder, Jr., United States Attorney, and R. Craig Lawrence, Assistant United States Attorney, were on the brief. Carlos O. Miranda entered an appearance.

Before: EDWARDS, Chief Judge, SILBERMAN and GINSBURG, Circuit Judges.

Opinion for the Court filed by Chief Judge HARRY T. EDWARDS.

HARRY T. EDWARDS, Chief Judge:

Tenacre Foundation ("Tenacre") appeals from the District Court's denial of Tenacre's motion for a preliminary injunction against the Immigration and Naturalization Service ("INS"). Tenacre's dispute with INS arose out of a petition filed by Tenacre on behalf of James Kihu, an employee at Tenacre's Christian Science health care facility in New Jersey, seeking to change Kihu's visa status from that of a student (F-1 visa classification) to that of a nonimmigrant religious worker (R-1 visa classification). Pursuant to an INS regulation requiring that the beneficiary of an R-1 visa be "qualified" in the religious occupation forming the basis for the visa application, see 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(r)(3)(ii)(C)(3) (1993), INS denied the Kihu petition on the ground that Tenacre's filings showed that Kihu was "training" to become a Christian Science nurse and therefore was not yet "fully qualified" for the religious occupation of Christian Science nursing. Tenacre filed suit in the District Court, contending that INS's interpretation of its "qualification" requirement in the Kihu case evidenced a "policy" of denying visas to entry-level Christian Science nurses merely because they would receive some training while on the job. Tenacre also asserted that this purported policy unlawfully added a "prior work" condition to the statutory requirements governing R-1 visas. According to Tenacre, the alleged "policy" at issue violated the Immigration and Nationality Act ("INA"), the Administrative Procedure Act ("APA"), the First Amendment, and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act ("RFRA").

Although the District Court found that Tenacre was likely to succeed on the merits of its APA claim, Tenacre's request for preliminary injunctive relief was denied for lack of an adequate showing of irreparable harm. Because neither the District Court nor this court has found any concrete support for the claim that INS has adopted an unlawful "policy" with regard to R-1 visa applicants, we must affirm the judgment of the District Court. We note, in particular, that during oral argument before this court, INS conceded the principal points in issue, thus effectively negating the claim that the agency has adopted a suspect "policy." We find nothing in the record before us, or in the findings of the District Court, to refute these concessions, so we conclude there is little likelihood that Tenacre will succeed on the merits of any of its claims. Accordingly, we affirm the District Court's denial of the requested preliminary injunction without reaching the issue of irreparable harm.

I. BACKGROUND

On May 17, 1993, Tenacre filed with INS a petition seeking to change Kihu's visa status from an F-1 student classification to an R-1 nonimmigrant religious worker classification. Kihu, a native of Kenya, had been employed at Tenacre's Christian Science nursing facility for almost a year prior to Tenacre's petition for status change. Tenacre stated that it was requesting the status change from student to religious worker so that Kihu could "continue his on-the-job training in the religious occupation of Christian Science nursing, while concurrently continuing his extensive preparation for becoming a Christian Science nurse." Petition for R-1 Nonimmigrant Religious Worker for James N. Kihu at 3, reprinted in Appendix to Brief of Appellant ("App.") 163, 165. Tenacre further represented that "Kihu's long-term goal is to represent himself as a Christian Science nurse in The Christian Science Journal,.... [which] lists the names of Christian Science practitioners and nurses, in order that the public may have access to and may contact these highly-skilled healers." Id. In this initial submission, Tenacre made it clear that Kihu would "continue to work as a Christian Science nurses aide" during "the preparation process at Tenacre," id., and attached to the petition a job description entitled "Christian Science Nurses Aide," reprinted in App. 242-43.

On June 1, 1993, INS sent Tenacre a notice stating that, because the purpose of the petition was to "train" Kihu to become a Christian Science nurse, Kihu was not eligible for R-1 religious worker status. In other words, INS indicated that Kihu could not get an R-1 visa until "fully qualified" to be employed in a religious occupation. Notice of Action, United States Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service, reprinted in App. 158. INS based its view on regulations implementing statutory provisions relating to the R-1 visa classification. ¹

Through subsequent filings with INS, Tenacre attempted to recast Kihu's position at Tenacre as that of an "entry-level" Christian Science nurse (rather than that of a "nurse's aide"). See, e.g., Motion to Reopen and Motion for Reconsideration at 9, reprinted in App. 48, 56. Tenacre never contended that the position of "nurse's aide" is itself a traditional religious occupation within the Christian Science denomination. Indeed, in one of its revised submissions, Tenacre not only claimed that Kihu would not be working as a "nurse's aide," but that there was no such position. Request to Reopen, reprinted in App. 132. In conjunction with this revised claim, Tenacre sought to persuade INS that Kihu, though a novice, was in fact functioning as a Christian Science nurse, which INS concedes is a traditional religious occupation. This claim fell on deaf ears. Despite Tenacre's voluminous filings in support of its requests for reconsideration, INS remained unconvinced that Kihu was fully qualified to function as a Christian Science nurse. Ultimately, INS issued a final agency action on October 11, 1994, denying Tenacre's petition to change Kihu's visa status. See Decision of INS Administrative Appeals Unit In Re Petitioner Tenacre Foundation, reprinted in App. 1.

Over seven months later, on May 19, 1995, Tenacre filed suit against INS in the District Court, contending that INS's interpretation of its regulations, as evidenced by the agency's treatment of the Kihu petition, effectively imposed on R-1 visa applicants a "prior work" requirement nowhere found in the statutory provisions governing the R-1 visa classification. Further, Tenacre alleged that INS's application of its "qualification" requirement evidenced a "policy" of denying R-1 visa status to entry-level Christian Science nurses who would receive any training while working at Tenacre, notwithstanding Tenacre's assertions that the applicant would be functioning as a Christian Science nurse, as defined by the Christian Science denomination. Tenacre asserted that INS's purported policy violated the INA, APA, RFRA, and First Amendment.

On June 14, 1995, Tenacre filed a motion for a preliminary injunction, which the District Court denied by order on July 13, 1995. In its decision denying preliminary injunctive relief, the District Court found that Tenacre had a significant likelihood of success on the merits of its APA claim, but that Tenacre had "not adequately shown that it will suffer irreparable harm absent a preliminary injunction." Tenacre Found. v. INS, Civ. Action No. 95-945, slip op. at 11 (D.D.C. July 13, 1995), reprinted in App. 378, 388. In the trial court's view, Tenacre's allegations of harm to its First Amendment right to the free exercise of the Christian Science religion "are, at this juncture, only speculative," whereas, "[t]o constitute irreparable harm, plaintiff's alleged injury must be 'certain and great,' not theoretical." Id. at 11-12 (quoting Wisconsin Gas Co. v. FERC, 758 F.2d 669, 674 (D.C.Cir.1985) (per curiam)), reprinted in App. 388-89. In this regard, the court observed that Tenacre "makes no statement ... that any particular applicant aside from James Kihu has been or will be in the imminent future screened out from an R-1 visa." Id. at 11, reprinted in App. 388. ²

The District Court's decision also noted the dispute between Tenacre and INS over Kihu's status--i.e., whether he would have been functioning at Tenacre as a Christian Science nurse or nurse's aide. But the trial court made no clear ruling on the issue, presumably because Tenacre's law suit focused on INS's alleged "policy," rather than on Kihu's petition, and, in addition, because Kihu's application was no longer pending at the time of the preliminary injunction determination. ³ The trial court also noted INS's contention that Tenacre "mischaracterizes" INS's action on the Kihu petition "as a 'policy,' when in fact no policy of denying visas to entry-level Christian Science nurses exists." Id. at 10 n. 3, reprinted in App. 387. However, the District Court found that, "[a]t this stage in the proceedings, ... it is impossible to discern whether the policy [Tenacre] alleges exists is, in fact, a policy." Id.

On July 25, 1995, Tenacre moved to amend the District Court's July 13, 1995, order denying preliminary injunctive relief. Among other things, Tenacre argued in its motion that its injury was not speculative, because "Tenacre currently has on staff several foreign national nurses who, because they are in training, are threatened with denial [of ...