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Page Number: 5

Cite as:  596 U. S. ____ (2022) 

1 

Opinion of the Court 

NOTICE:  This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the 
preliminary  print  of  the  United  States  Reports.  Readers  are  requested  to 
notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Wash-
ington, D. C. 20543, of any typographical or other formal errors, in order that 
corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press. 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

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No. 20–979 
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PANKAJKUMAR S. PATEL, ET AL., PETITIONERS v. 
MERRICK B. GARLAND, ATTORNEY GENERAL 

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF 
APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT 

[May 16, 2022] 

JUSTICE BARRETT delivered the opinion of the Court. 
Congress  has  comprehensively  detailed  the  rules  by
which noncitizens may enter and live in the United States. 
When  noncitizens  violate  those  rules,  Congress  has  pro-
vided procedures for their removal.  At the same time, there 
is room for mercy: Congress has given the Attorney General
power  to  grant  relief  from  removal  in  certain  circum-
stances. 

Federal courts have a very limited role to play in this pro-
cess.  With an exception for legal and constitutional ques-
tions, Congress has barred judicial review of the Attorney
General’s  decisions  denying  discretionary  relief  from  re-
moval.  We must decide how far this bar extends—specifi-
cally,  whether  it  precludes  judicial  review  of  factual  find-
ings that underlie a denial of relief.  It does. 

I 
A 

A  noncitizen  who  enters  the  United  States  illegally  or 
who otherwise violates its laws may be removed from the 
country.  8 U. S. C. §§1182, 1227, 1229a.  Removal proceed-
ings  are  conducted  by  immigration  judges  in  the  United