Opinion ID: 791779
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Is the Regulation a Permissible Interpretation of the Statute?

Text: 87 We are thus faced with a statute providing that, in general, aliens paroled into the United States may apply to adjust their status, and a regulation providing that, in general, they may not. The conflict between regulation and statute is clear and unmistakable. Under the second step of the Chevron test, we must determine `whether the regulation harmonizes with the plain language of the statute, its origin, and purpose. So long as the regulation bears a fair relationship to the language of the statute, reflects the views of those who sought its enactment, and matches the purpose they articulated, it will merit deference.' Appalachian States Low-Level Radioactive Waste Comm'n v. O'Leary, 93 F.3d 103, 110 (3d Cir.1996) (quoting Sekula v. FDIC, 39 F.3d 448, 452 (3d Cir.1994)). 88 While this is a deferential standard, we think it plain that § 1245.1(c)(8) fails to meet it. As we have explained above in some detail, Congress's clearly expressed intent was to allow most paroled aliens to apply for adjustment of status; the regulation's effect is to bar almost all such aliens from adjustment. Congress's intent is apparent both from the language of the statute, allowing aliens paroled into the United States to apply for adjustment, and from its structure, allowing such applications as a general matter and excluding only a few narrow classes from eligibility. This conclusion is supported by the legislative history. The First Circuit in Succar examined the history of INA section 245 in some detail, and came to the conclusion that Congress's intent in enacting that section was to spare admitted and paroled aliens the hardship and expense of having to leave the United States in order to apply for an adjustment of status to which they were entitled. See Succar, 394 F.3d at 32-34. 89 We have found that the text of INA section 245 leaves some ambiguity about whether the Attorney General may determine by regulation what classes of aliens are eligible to apply for adjustment of status, thus precluding reliance on the first prong of the Chevron test. See supra Part V.C. But, as we noted there, the decision is a close one: the statutory structure and language noted by the Succar court, while not unambiguous, certainly suggest that Congress intended to regulate eligibility by statute rather than to leave it in the Attorney General's hands. The closeness of the step one question has some bearing on our step two decision. While the statute may be ambiguous enough to allow for some regulatory eligibility standards, it does not so totally abdicate authority to the Attorney General as to allow a regulation, like § 1245.1(c)(8), that essentially reverses the eligibility structure set out by Congress. 90 Chevron, of course, stands for the proposition that administrative agencies receive broad deference in interpreting the statutes which they are charged with enforcing. We are mindful of our obligation to respect the decisions of the immigration agencies, which are informed by long experience and deep specialization in matters of great national importance. But we have an even higher obligation to respect the clearly expressed will of Congress, which in promulgating and amending the INA made its own considered decisions, balancing the need to swiftly remove undeserving aliens against the desire to afford every applicant a fair chance to request any immigration benefits that he or she may deserve. 91 Given Congress's intent as expressed in the language, structure, and legislative history of INA section 245, the regulation's effect of precluding almost all paroled aliens from applying to adjust their status does not harmonize[] with the plain language of the statute, its origin, and purpose. Sekula, 39 F.3d at 452. Because 8 C.F.R. § 1245.1(c)(8) is not based on a permissible reading of INA section 245(a), 8 U.S.C. § 1255(a), we hold that the regulation is invalid insofar as it renders parolees ineligible to apply for adjustment of status. As explained in the following Part, we will therefore remand Zheng's case to the immigration authorities for further consideration.