Opinion ID: 708223
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Statutory Scheme for Judicial Review

Text: 13 Section 106 of the INA, as amended, provides exclusive judicial review in the courts of appeals for all final orders of deportation after exhaustion of administrative remedies available to [the petitioner] as of right. 8 U.S.C. Secs. 1105a(a), (c) (1994). 5 Discretionary determinations made during an incident to the administrative proceeding ... and reviewable together by the Board of Immigration Appeals ... are likewise included within the ambit of the exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of Appeals under Sec. 106(a). Foti v. INS, 375 U.S. 217, 229, 84 S.Ct. 306, 313-14, 11 L.Ed.2d 281 (1963). However, because of the need for a factual record beyond that which can be developed in the agency proceeding, we ordinarily cannot review many discretionary decisions of the INS as part of our review of a final deportation order. See, e.g., Abedi-Tajrishi v. INS, 752 F.2d 441, 443 (9th Cir.1985) (finding no jurisdiction to review a discretionary decision when factual development is necessary); Mohammadi-Motlagh v. INS, 727 F.2d 1450, 1451, 1452 (9th Cir.1984) (finding no jurisdiction for appellate review when the immigration judge and the Board of Immigration Appeals lack jurisdiction to review a district director's discretionary decision). When the provision for exclusive review in the courts of appeals is inapplicable, jurisdiction lies in the district court pursuant to the federal question statute, 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1331, and pursuant to the general grant of power to review matters arising under the immigration laws, 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1329. See Cheng Fan Kwok v. INS, 392 U.S. 206, 210, 88 S.Ct. 1970, 1973, 20 L.Ed.2d 1037 (1968); Karmali v. INS, 707 F.2d 408, 409 (9th Cir.1983). 14 The decision to institute deportation proceedings, the basis for a selective enforcement claim, is a discretionary decision of the INS director that is not subject to review by either the immigration judge (IJ) or the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). See Lopez-Telles v. INS, 564 F.2d 1302, 1304 (9th Cir.1977). Both the IJ conducting the deportation proceeding and the Government agree that neither the IJ nor the BIA has jurisdiction to consider a selective enforcement claim during a deportation proceeding. Thus, we conclude that selective enforcement claims are not subject to the statutory provision for exclusive review after issuance of a final deportation order. 15 The Government's argument that the selective enforcement claim in this case is purely legal and thus reviewable only in the court of appeals is unpersuasive. Both prongs of the selective enforcement claim--disparate impact and discriminatory intent--require factual proof. See United States v. Armstrong, 48 F.3d 1508, 1513 (9th Cir.1995) (en banc), cert. granted, --- U.S. ----, 116 S.Ct. 377, 133 L.Ed.2d 301 (1995). The district court ordered discovery and reviewed evidence from the aliens and from the Government that would not be available in a deportation proceeding. The aliens have submitted to the district court more than 450 pages of declarations, exhibits, and transcripts in support of their claims. In the course of factual development, for example, the INS has conceded that Amer is the only alien that the Los Angeles INS office has sought to deport for taking too few credits as a student, even though many such students have been reported to the INS. We therefore find that the district court had jurisdiction to consider these selective enforcement claims. 16