Williams v. Sec'y, 13–11270.

• Decision Date: 17 January 2014
• Docket Number: No. 13–11270.,13–11270.
• Citation: 741 F.3d 1228
• Parties: Raquel Pascoal WILLIAMS, Plaintiff–Appellant, v. SECRETARY, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, Director, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Defendants–Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

741 F.3d 1228

Raquel Pascoal WILLIAMS, Plaintiff–Appellant,

v.SECRETARY, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, Director, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Defendants–Appellees.

No. 13–11270.

United States Court of Appeals,Eleventh Circuit.

Jan. 17, 2014.

Held Invalid

8 C.F.R. §§ 204.2(i)(1)(iv), 205.1(a)(3)(i)(C)(1)Brent Renison, Parrilli Renison, LLC, Portland, OR, David H. Stoller, Law Offices of David Stoller, PA, Orlando, FL, for Plaintiff–Appellant.

John J.W. Inkeles, U.S. Department of Justice Office of Immigration Litigation, Washington, DC, Robert E. O'Neill, U.S. Attorney's Office, Tampa, FL, for Defendants–Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. D.C. Docket No. 6:12–cv–00701–CEH–KRS.

Before MARTIN and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges, and HUCK,^* District Judge.

MARTIN, Circuit Judge:

Raquel Pascoal Williams appeals the District Court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The District Court interpreted parts of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to prevent Ms. Pascoal from adjusting her immigration status to become a legal permanent resident. Her appeal raises a novel issue of statutory interpretation: whether the remarriage bar in the second sentence of the “immediate relatives” definition in 8 U.S.C. § 1151(b)(2)(A)(i) applies to Ms. Pascoal's renewed application to adjust her status under the recently enacted § 1154( l ).¹ After careful review and with the benefit of oral argument, we find that it does not. We therefore reverse the grant of summary judgment and remand for entry of judgment in favor of Ms. Pascoal.

I. BACKGROUND

A. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Ms. Pascoal is a native and citizen of Brazil. On January 11, 2002, she married Derek Williams, a U.S. citizen. On December 19, 2002, Mr. Williams filed an I–130 beneficiary-petition on Ms. Pascoal's behalf. An I–130 beneficiary-petition allows a U.S. citizen to have a qualifying alien relative classified as an “immediate relative” under the INA so that the alien relative may then file an application to adjust their immigration status. 8 U.S.C. § 1154(a)(1)(A)(i); 8 C.F.R. § 204.1(a)(1). At the time, Ms. Pascoal was an “immediate relative” of Mr. Williams, according to the first sentence of the INA's definition, because she was his spouse. 8 U.S.C. § 1151(b)(2)(A)(i). Ms. Pascoal also filed her own I–485 application to adjust her status to lawful permanent resident and Mr. Williams filed his affidavit in support.

Mr. Williams unexpectedly died on September 17, 2003, before DHS made a final decision on the I–130 beneficiary-petition and I–485 application. Soon after Mr. Williams died, DHS denied Ms. Pascoal's application to adjust her status. The denial stated that because of Mr. Williams's death, Ms. Pascoal was no longer classified as an “immediate relative” of a U.S. citizen and therefore she could not adjust her status on that basis.

DHS's December 23, 2003 letter also told Ms. Pascoal that its decision did not preclude her from filing an I–360 self-petition. An I–360 self-petition allows a widow or widower of a U.S. citizen who meets the requirements of the second sentence of the “immediate relatives” definition to file for adjustment of status on their own behalf, which Ms. Pascoal did on July 16, 2004. 8 U.S.C. § 1154(a)(1)(A)(ii); 8 C.F.R. § 204.1(a)(2). At that time, the second sentence of the “immediate relatives” definition required the alien spouse to have been married to the U.S. citizen “for at least 2 years at the time of the citizen's death.” 8 U.S.C. § 1151(b)(2)(A)(i) (2006). Because she had not been married to Mr. Williams for at least two years before he died, DHS also denied Ms. Pascoal's I–360 self-petition.

On August 8, 2009, Ms. Pascoal remarried to Noel Wells. Ms. Pascoal and Mr. Wells were only married for a short time and were formally divorced on April 8, 2010.

After her divorce, Ms. Pascoal sought to reopen her original I–130 beneficiary-petition that Mr. Williams had filed on her behalf before he died. Her motion was based on a newly enacted provision at 8 U.S.C. § 1154( l ), which allowed people like Ms. Pascoal to reopen an earlier filed I–130 beneficiary-petition that had been denied because of the death of the qualifying U.S. citizen relative. However, DHS denied Ms. Pascoal's motion to reopen based on her marriage to Mr. Wells, relying on the remarriage bar in the second sentence of the “immediate relatives” definition. 8 U.S.C. § 1151(b)(2)(A)(i).

B. PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On May 9, 2012, Ms. Pascoal filed this action in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida challenging DHS's decision that her second marriage barred her from adjusting her status under § 1154( l ). Because there were no material factual disputes, the parties quickly filed cross-motions for summary judgment.

The District Court denied Ms. Pascoal's motion and granted judgment in favor of DHS. The District Court found that the “immediate relatives” definition in 8 U.S.C. § 1151(b)(2)(A)(i) is specifically referenced in § 1154( l ) and explicitly limits an alien widow's right to acquire immigration benefits based on a first marriage after the widow has remarried. The District Court rejected Ms. Pascoal's argument that the second sentence of that definition—which contains the remarriage bar—only applies to I–360 self-petitions, not I–130 beneficiary-petitions. The District Court also was not persuaded by case law from outside our Circuit that held the first sentence of the “immediate relatives” definition in § 1151(b)(2)(A)(i) is not modified by the second sentence, because those decisions analyzed the application of the two-year marriage requirement, rather than the remarriage bar at issue here. Ms. Pascoal then filed this appeal.

II. JURISDICTION

This Court has jurisdiction over the District Court's summary judgment decision pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291. The District Court properly exercised subject matter jurisdiction over this case under 28 U.S.C. § 1331, because Ms. Pascoal is making her federal claims under the Administrative Procedures Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. §§ 701–706, the Mandamus Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1361, and the Declaratory Judgment Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 2201–2202.

Our jurisdiction over agency actions is limited—particularly those taken pursuant to the INA. In determining whether we have jurisdiction, we make two further inquiries. First, we consider whether jurisdiction is proper under the APA. Jurisdiction over an agency action is permissible under § 704 of the APA where: (1) the action marks the consummation of the agency's decision-making process, and is not tentative or interlocutory; and (2) the action determines rights or obligations, or is one from which legal consequences will flow. Mejia Rodriguez v. U.S. Dep't of Homeland Sec., 562 F.3d 1137, 1145 (11th Cir.2009).

This appeal satisfies both requirements. DHS's denial of Ms. Pascoal's application for status as a permanent resident was a final decision. And the decision determined Ms. Pascoal's statutory eligibility to adjust her status, having the legal consequences of revoking her employment authorization and ending her permission to be present in the United States.

We next consider jurisdiction under the INA. Normally discretionary decisions or actions of the Attorney General are not subject to judicial review. 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii). Despite this general limitation, we have jurisdiction over Ms. Pascoal's appeal because it involves a purely legal question of statutory eligibility, not a discretionary agency action. See, e.g., Mejia Rodriguez, 562 F.3d at 1142–45.

III. DISCUSSION

A. STANDARD OF REVIEW

We review de novo the District Court's interpretation and application of statutory provisions, as well as any grant of summary judgment based on that interpretation. Silva–Hernandez v. U.S. Bureau of Citizenship & Immigration Servs., 701 F.3d 356, 361 (11th Cir.2012). When reviewing an agency's construction of a statute that it administers, we first determine whether Congress has directly spoken to the question at issue. Chevron, U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Res. Def. Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837, 842, 104 S.Ct. 2778, 2781, 81 L.Ed.2d 694 (1984). “If the intent of Congress is clear, that is the end of the matter; for the court, as well as the agency, must give effect to the unambiguously expressed intent of Congress.” Id. at 842–43, 104 S.Ct. at 2781. “As with any question of statutory interpretation, we begin by examining the text of the statute to determine whether its meaning is clear.” Silva–Hernandez, 701 F.3d at 361 (citation omitted).

“[I]f the statute is silent or ambiguous with respect to the specific issue,” we turn to the second step, which requires us to decide whether the agency's regulation “is based on a permissible construction of the statute.” Chevron, 467 U.S. at 843, 104 S.Ct. at 2782. To uphold the agency's interpretation under this inquiry, we “need not conclude that the agency construction was the only one it permissibly could have adopted ... or even the reading the court would have reached if the question initially had arisen in a judicial proceeding.” Id. at 843 n. 11, 104 S.Ct. at 2782 n. 11. All we must decide is whether the agency “has filled the statutory gap ‘in a way that is reasonable in light of the legislature's revealed design.’ ” Lopez v. Davis, 531 U.S. 230, 242, 121 S.Ct. 714, 722–23, 148 L.Ed.2d 635 (2001) (quoting NationsBank of N.C., N.A. v. Variable Annuity Life Ins. Co., 513 U.S. 251, 257, 115 S.Ct. 810, 813–14, 130 L.Ed.2d 740 (1995)).

B. STATUTORY FRAMEWORK

This case involves the interpretation of, and relationship between, three subsections of the INA.

1. Beneficiary- and Self–Petition Procedures

The INA establishes various petitioning procedures for an alien to apply for U.S. immigration status. 8 U.S.C. § 1154. The two petitioning procedures that are relevant to this case are: (1) § 1154(a)(1)(A)(i),...