F ILED U.S. COURT O F APP EALS EL EV EN TH C IRC UIT July 15, 20 05 T HOMA S K. KA HN CLERK [PUBLIS H]
IN THE UN ITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FO R T HE EL EV EN TH CIRC UI T

____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ N o. 04- 1663 1 Non-A rgum ent Calendar

____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ A ge nc y D oc ke t N o. A 76- 894- 636 LADISLAO ORTEGA , Petitioner,
ve rs us U.S. ATTO RNEY GENERAL, Re spon de nt.

____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ __ Pe tit ionf or Re vie wf ro m aD ec isi on of the Bo ar d of

I m m igr at ionAppe al s

____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ _
Be fo re H U L L , W IL SO N and P RY O R, Ci rc uit Jud ge s. ORD ER : T his appe al pr es en ts an is sue of f ir st i m pr es sio n: whe the r w e have j urisdictio n to review an order of the Boar d of Im m igration Appeals that2

determ ined the status of an alien under section 202 of the Nicar aguan and Central Am eri can Rel ie f Actof 1 99 7 (NAC ARA), Pub. L. No. 1 05 -1 00 , 11 1 S ta t. 2 19 3. Be ca use the c le ar

langua ge of

se ct ion202 (f

) re str ic ts o ur

j ur isd ic tio n, w e dis m iss th e ap pe al forlac k o f juri sd ic ti on . I. BACKG ROUND On July 9, 1998, L adislao Ortega, a citizen of Nicaragua, filed an application to adj ust his status un der N ACA RA. In his application, he stated that he e nte re d th e U nit ed

S tate s w ith out

ins pe ct ionon Apr il 20, 199 5. O n Apr il 13, 2001 , the I m

m igr at ionand N at

ur al iz at ionS er

vic e se rv ed

O rt eg a w ithaN oti ce to App ear ( NTA) andall eg edth atOrte gaen te redth e Uni te d S ta te s atan un kn own place on an unkno wn date. O n June 6, 2001 , the N TAwa s am ended to allege that O rt eg a en te re d th e U nit ed S tate s onApr il 20, 199 5. O rt eg a adm itt ed the al le gatio ns i n th e N T A , a s am en de d, and c onc ed ed r em ova bil ity
. O n D ec em

be r 9, 2002 , how ev er , the N T Aw as a ga in am en de d to a lle ge that O rt eg a en te re d th e Uni te d S ta te s o n a n u nk no wn d at e. Orte gade ni edth e am en de d a ll eg at io n. At the c onclusi on of the adjustm ent of status hearing, the IJ found that Ortega’ s phy sical presence in the United States had com m enced before De cem

ber 1, 1995, and granted his adjustm ent of status applicatio n und er N ACA RA. T he IJ relied on Ortega’ s testim ony and several docum ents filed by Or tega, includi ng an3

ai rl ine board ing pa ss, m one y w ir e tr an sf

er s, a ff idavit s, and r en ta l r ec ei pts . T he IN S appealed the decision of the IJ to the BIA , and the INS argued that the IJ err ed because O rtega had fa iled to establis h the com m encem ent of his phy sical presence in the U nit ed

S tate s onor

be fo re D ec em

be r 1, 199 5, a s w el l a s hi s c ont inu ous phy sic al pr es en ce . T he BI Ava cate d th e de ci sio n of the I J and o rd er ed

O rt eg a
rem ov edfro m

th e Uni te d S ta te s. Ort eg a n ow p et it io ns forou r rev ie w.

II. D ISCU SSION O rt eg a co m

pla ins that the BI Asho uld have a ff irm ed the I J ba se d onthe
se co ndary

e vid en ce that he pr es en te d, but be fo re w e ca

n c onsi de r his arg um en t,
we m ust determ ine whether we have j urisdictio n. ` W e re view subje ct m atter juri sd ic ti on de no vo . Bro ok s v . Ash cro ft, 2 83 F.3d12 68 , 12 72 (11 th Cir . 20 02 ). Whe n our re vie wis lim ite d by statut or y c ondi tio ns, w e onl y

“ re ta in j ur isd ic tio n to de te rm ine the und er ly ing j ur isd ic tio na l f ac ts at i ssu e. ” Re se ndi z- A lc ar az v. Ashcroft, 383 F.3d 1262 , 1266 (11th Cir. 2004). Section 202 of NA CAR

A a llows Nicaraguans and Cubans who have been phy sic al ly

pr es en t i n th e U nit ed

S tate s f or ac ont inu ous pe ri od b eg inn ing on Decem be r 1, 1 99 5, t o a dju stth ei r st atus , as l on g a s t he y are o th erwi se ad m is si bl e. Ade ci sio n by

the A tto rn ey

G en er al r eg ar din g whe the r ana lie n e sta bli she d th at

his status sh ouldbe adj usted un der N ACA RA is not reviewable by any court. See4

N A CA RA§ 20 2( f)
. A lth oughc ourts o rd inari ly do n ot i nf

er c ongr es sio na l i nte nt to r es tr ic t the ir

j ur isd ic tio n, se ct ion202 (f ) cl earl y sho w s th at

Co ngr es s in te nde d to fo re cl ose j udi ci al r ev ie w . S ee F ah im v. U
. S. A tty . G en . , 278 F
. 3d 1 216, 121 7 (1 1thCi r. 200 2)
. S ec tio n 20 2( f) une qui voc al ly state s th at

“ [a ] de te rm inatio n by the Attorney

Ge neral as to whether the status of any alien shouldbe adj usted un der this section is final and shall not be subjec t to review by any court.” N ACA RA § 2 02 (f). A lth oughthe re is a pr es um pti on f av or ing j udi ci al r ev ie w , the pr es um pti on
m ay be ove rc om e by

spe ci fi c statut or

y langua ge pr ec lud ing that r ev ie w . B loc k v. Co m m un it y Nut rit io n In st ., 46 7 U.S. 3 40 , 34 9, 1 04 S. Ct. 2 45 0, 2 45 6- 57 (19 84 ). The unequivocal language of section 2 02(f) overcom es the presum ption of j udicial
rev ie w. W e la ckjuri sd ic ti on to rev ie w th e d eci si on of t he BIA. PETI TI ON DIS MIS SED.