Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/20-979_h3ci.pdf
Page Number: 22.0

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

1 

GORSUCH, J., dissenting 

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 GORSUCH, with whom JUSTICE BREYER, JUSTICE 

SOTOMAYOR, and JUSTICE KAGAN join, dissenting. 

It is no secret that when processing applications, licenses,
and  permits  the  government  sometimes  makes  mistakes. 
Often, they are small ones—a misspelled name, a misplaced 
application.  But  sometimes  a  bureaucratic  mistake  can 
have life-changing consequences.  Our case is such a case. 
An  immigrant  to  this  country  applied  for  legal  residency. 
The  government  rejected  his  application.    Allegedly,  the 
government did so based on a glaring factual error.  In cir-
cumstances like that, our law has long permitted individu-
als to petition a court to consider the question and correct
any mistake.

Not anymore.  Today, the Court holds that a federal bu-
reaucracy can make an obvious factual error, one that will 
result  in  an  individual’s  removal  from  this  country,  and 
nothing can be done about it.  No court may even hear the 
case.  It  is  a  bold  claim  promising  dire  consequences  for 
countless lawful immigrants.  And it is such an unlikely as-
sertion  of  raw  administrative  power  that  not  even  the
agency that allegedly erred, nor any other arm of the Exec-
utive Branch, endorses it.  Today’s majority acts on its own
to shield the government from the embarrassment of hav-
ing to correct even its most obvious errors.  Respectfully, I
dissent.