Opinion ID: 484728
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: mada's challenge under the foia

Text: 28 Mada also contends that the 1981 version of the Operating Instruction is invalid, or at least should not be applied in his case, because the INS failed to publish it in the Federal Register, as required under FOIA sections 552(a)(1)(D) and (E). 13 We rejected this precise claim in Romeiro, 14 concluding that the 1981 Operating Instruction clearly does not create substantive rights for aliens, Romeiro, 773 F.2d at 1025 n. 3, and therefore the failure to publish it did not  'adversely affect a member of the public.'  Zaharakis v. Heckler, 744 F.2d 711, 714 (9th Cir.1984) (citation omitted), accord Cubanski v. Heckler, 781 F.2d 1421, 1428-29 (9th Cir.1986). As a result, we held that no individual, including the plaintiff in Romeiro, can challenge the INS's failure to publish the 1981 Instruction under the FOIA. See Romeiro, 773 F.2d at 1025 n. 3; see also Cubanski, 781 F.2d at 1428-29; Zaharakis, 744 F.2d at 714. The FOIA explicitly provides that an individual cannot object to the application of an unpublished rule in his case if he has actual and timely notice of [its] terms. 5 U.S.C. Sec. 552(a)(1). We have previously held that an individual may not raise an FOIA claim based on an agency's failure to publish a rule or regulation, unless he makes an initial showing that he was adversely affected by the lack of publication or that he would have been able to pursue an alternate course of conduct had publication occurred. Zaharakis, 744 F.2d at 714; accord Cubanski, 781 F.2d at 1428-29; see also United States v. Hall, 742 F.2d 1153, 1155 (9th Cir.1984). The record indicates that Mada was aware of the precise language of the 1981 Operating Instruction when he first petitioned for deferred action status in October, 1983. His petition expressly quoted the sympathetic factors language contained in the 1981 Instruction. Moreover, he has not alleged that he could somehow have altered his conduct in a material way had he been aware of the amended Instruction sooner. Thus, for all these reasons we must reject Mada's claim that the 1981 Operating Instruction should not be applied in his case because of the INS's failure to publish it in the Federal Register. See Romeiro, 773 F.2d at 1025 n. 3; Zaharakis, 744 F.2d at 714; see also Cubanski, 781 F.2d at 1428-29.