Source: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-9th-circuit/1482847.html
Timestamp: 2019-10-15 10:23:40
Document Index: 205453233

Matched Legal Cases: ['§\u20021229', '§\u20021229', '§\u20021252', '§\u20021229', '§\u20021252', '§\u20021183']

DE LOURDES v. MUKASEY | FindLaw
DE LOURDES v. MUKASEY
Before we reach the merits of the Mercados' claims, we must determine whether we have jurisdiction. The Immigration and Naturalization Act (“INA”) authorizes the Attorney General to cancel the removal of an otherwise-deportable alien if he or she meets certain requirements. See 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b).2 One such requirement is that the alien demonstrate that his or her removal “would result in exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to the alien's spouse, parent, or child, who is a citizen of the United States or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence.” Id. § 1229b(b)(1)(D) (emphasis added). The INA also contains a jurisdiction-stripping provision, id. § 1252(a)(2)(B)(i) (“Subsection B(i)”), which deprives us of jurisdiction to review “any judgment regarding the granting of relief under section ․ 240A [cancellation of removal].” Id. We have interpreted this jurisdictional bar to encompass “all discretionary decisions involved in the cancellation of removal context, including the ultimate discretionary decision to deny relief.” Romero-Torres v. Ashcroft, 327 F.3d 887, 890 (9th Cir.2003). The question whether an alien's relatives are likely to suffer an exceptional and extremely unusual hardship upon the alien's removal is a discretionary decision because it is “ ‘a subjective question’ that depends on the value judgment ‘of the person or entity examining the issue’ ”, not a legal determination. Id. at 891 (quoting Kalaw v. INS, 133 F.3d 1147, 1151 (9th Cir.1997)); see also Martinez-Rosas v. Gonzales, 424 F.3d 926, 929 (9th Cir.2005) (“[W]hether an alien demonstrated' exceptional and extremely unusual hardship under 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b)(1)(D) [i]s a discretionary determination and [i]s therefore unreviewable under [Subsection B(i) ].”).
Nevertheless, Subsection B(i) does not deprive us of jurisdiction over questions pertaining to a petitioner's statutory eligibility for cancellation of removal, such as whether certain relatives qualify for consideration in the IJ's hardship analysis, because such questions are “purely legal and hence non-discretionary.” Montero-Martinez v. Ashcroft, 277 F.3d 1137, 1144-45 (9th Cir.2002); see id.(holding that we have jurisdiction to review an IJ's conclusion as to whether an alien's adult child is a qualifying relative); Molina-Estrada v. INS, 293 F.3d 1089, 1093-94 (9th Cir.2002) (holding that we have jurisdiction to consider whether an alien's parent is a lawful permanent resident). In addition, the Real ID Act of 2005, Pub.L. No. 109-13, div. B, 119 Stat. 231, vests us with jurisdiction to review “constitutional claims or questions of law raised upon a petition for review.” 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(D) (“Subsection D”). Still, we have held that Subsection D “did not alter our jurisdiction” over the agency's denial of an application for cancellation of removal. Martinez-Rosas, 424 F.3d at 929. We continue to “lack jurisdiction to review the IJ's subjective, discretionary determination that [a petitioner] did not demonstrate ‘exceptional and extremely unusual hardship.’ ” Id. at 930.3
We need not consider whether the IJ actually made such an error because the question whether and to what extent Mr. Mercado's brother is likely to support his parents upon the Mercados' removal is not a question of law, but an evidentiary determination outside the scope of our review. Even if the Mercados could demonstrate that the IJ misunderstood the support § 1183a requires Mr. Mercado's brother to provide, their claim is simply an argument that the IJ underestimated the hardship their removal would cause. We lack jurisdiction over such question. See Romero-Torres, 327 F.3d at 887; Torres-Aguilar v. INS, 246 F.3d 1267, 1270 (9th Cir.2001).
Because we lack jurisdiction for the foregoing reasons, the Mercados' petitions for review are