Opinion ID: 3012894
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: farra

Text: To implement Article 3 of CAT, Congress passed FARRA in 1998. FARRA § 2242(a) provides that “[i]t shall be the policy of the United States not to expel, extradite, or otherwise effect the involuntary return of any person to a country in which there are substantial grounds for believing the person would be in danger of being subjected to torture.” Section 2242(b) of FARRA requires “the heads of the appropriate agencies” to “prescribe regulations to implement the obligations of the United States under [CAT’s] Article 3.” Accordingly, the Department of Justice (of which the INS at that time was a division) promulgated regulations delineating the procedures for deciding CAT claims. Pursuant to 8 C.F.R. § 208.16(c)(2), if an alien can demonstrate that it is “more likely than not” that he or she would be tortured if removed to a particular country, the INS must grant him or her protection. Depending on the status of the alien, that protection may take the form either of permanent withholding of removal or of temporary deferral of removal. 8 C.F.R. § 208.16(c)(4). The latter protection exists only until changed conditions in the In response to criticisms of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, President Bush submitted a “revised and reduced list” of twelve proposed conditions in January 1990. S. Exec. Rep. No. 101-30, at 2. The Committee concluded that the revised list “in large measure eliminate[d] th[e] problem” and recommended ratification. Id. at 2, 4. 9 proposed country of removal make it no longer more likely than not that the alien will be tortured if returned. 8 C.F.R. § 208.17(b). At issue in this case are the jurisdictional provisions of FARRA and whether they preclude district courts from exercising habeas jurisdiction over claims alleging violations of CAT. Section 2242(d) of FARRA contains a jurisdiction-limiting provision and a jurisdictionconsolidating provision. The jurisdiction-limiting provision denies federal courts the power to review the regulations promulgated under FARRA. Id. The jurisdiction- consolidating provision12 prescribes that CAT claims may be considered only as part of final orders of deportation reviewed pursuant to § 242 of the INA, 8 U.S.C. § 1252. Id. (“[N]othing in this section shall be construed as providing any court jurisdiction to consider or review claims raised under [CAT] or this section, or any other determination made with respect to the application of the policy set forth in subsection (a), except as part of the review of a final order of removal pursuant to section 242 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.”). While on its face FARRA’s zipper clause acts only to consolidate jurisdiction in one action in the court of appeals, its effect is also to limit the extent to which courts of appeal may exercise that jurisdiction. Section 2242(d) of FARRA provides that only CAT claims that arise in the context of final orders of removal may be reviewed by the courts of appeal. But FARRA is not the first federal enactment to affect courts’ jurisdiction in immigration proceedings. IIRIRA “expressly precludes the courts of appeals from exercising ‘jurisdiction to review any final order of removal against any alien who is removable by reason of ’ a conviction for certain criminal offenses, including any aggravated felony.” See Calcano-Martinez v. INS, 533 U.S. 348, 350 (2001) (citing 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(C)).13 By confining judicial review to final orders 12. This type of provision is often referred to as a “zipper clause” as it “consolidates or ‘zips’ ‘judicial review’ of immigration proceedings into one action in the court of appeals.” Mahadeo v. Reno, 226 F.3d 3, 12 (1st Cir. 2000); accord INS v. St. Cyr, 533 U.S. 289, 313 (2001). 13. Indeed, IIRIRA was not the first statute to limit the jurisdiction of the federal courts in immigration proceedings. The Antiterrorism and 10 of removal, which are unreviewable if the petitioner has committed certain crimes, FARRA prevents the courts of appeals from reviewing CAT claims raised in deportation proceedings by aliens with certain criminal convictions.