Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/20-979_h3ci.pdf
Page Number: 28.0

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

7 

GORSUCH, J., dissenting 

“Denials of discretionary relief 

“Notwithstanding any other provision of law . . . and 
regardless of whether the judgment, decision, or action 
is made in removal proceedings, no court shall have ju-
risdiction  to  review—  (i)  any  judgment  regarding  the
granting of relief under section . . . 1255 of this title.” 

This language does not begin to do the work the majority 
demands of it.  Recall that requests for adjustment of status
involve a two-step process.  First, the Attorney General, act-
ing through the BIA, must determine whether an individ-
ual  is  statutorily  eligible  for  adjustment  of  status.  See 
8 U. S. C. §§ 1255(a), (i).  If so, the Attorney General may 
proceed to the second step and decide whether to grant an
adjustment request “in his discretion.”  §§ 1255(a), (i)(2)(A). 
Undoubtedly,  the  exception  in  § 1252(a)(2)(B)(i)  creates  a 
special rule insulating from judicial review the second and 
purely discretionary decision.  But nothing in it disturbs the
general  rule  that  courts  may  entertain  challenges  to  the 
BIA’s factual findings and legal analysis associated with its 
first-step eligibility determination.

This much follows directly from the statute’s terms.  Sub-
paragraph  (B)(i)  renders  unreviewable  only  those  judg-
ments “regarding the granting of relief.”  That phrase has a
well-understood meaning.  To “grant relief ” is to supply “re-
dress  or  benefit.”  United  States  v.  Denedo,  556  U. S.  904, 
909 (2009) (internal quotation marks omitted).  And where, 
as here, the BIA issues a judgment only at step one, it never 
reaches the question whether to grant relief or supply some 
redress or benefit.  Instead, the agency resolves only the an-
tecedent question whether an individual is statutorily eli-
gible to petition for relief, redress, or a benefit.  As the BIA 
has explained, a judgment at step one can never “result in
a grant of the application.”  Arai, 13 I. & N., at 495.  Any 
“judgment regarding the granting of relief ” comes only at