Opinion ID: 42950
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: jurisdiction

Text: In its brief before this court, the government suggests that an appellate court’s jurisdiction to review an immigration judge’s discretionary decision to deny an alien’s motion for a continuance is an “open question” for this court. Other circuits, notably the Eighth Circuit in Onyinkwa v. Ashcroft, 376 F.3d 797 (8th Cir. 2004), and the Tenth Circuit in Yerkovich v. Ashcroft, 381 F.3d 990 (10th Cir. 2004), have analyzed this issue and reached a holding contrary to the conclusion we reach today. As the government correctly acknowledged in its briefs, however, this court recently noted its disagreement with these decisions 5 from the Eighth and Tenth Circuits in Zhao v. Gonzales, 404 F.3d 295 (5th Cir. 2005). And as the government correctly conceded at oral argument, Zhao’s jurisdictional reasoning has been reaffirmed by this court. See Manzano-Garcia v. Gonzales, 413 F.3d 462, 467 (5th Cir. 2005) (per curiam) (quoting Zhao). This jurisdictional point revolves around the language of § 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii). As we noted in Zhao, “[o]ne might mistakenly read § 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii) as stripping us of the authority to review any discretionary immigration decision.” 404 F.3d at 303. Such a reading is mistaken, however, “because § 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii) strips us only of jurisdiction to review” the discretionary authority that is “specified in the statute.” Id. As we have repeatedly noted, we observe again that the language of § 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii) is thoroughly “pellucid on this score; it does not allude generally to ‘discretionary authority’ or to ‘discretionary authority exercised under this statute,’ but specifically to ‘authority for which is specified under this subchapter to be in the discretion of the Attorney General.’” Id. (quoting § 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii)) (emphasis in Zhao); see also Manzano-Garcia, 413 F.3d at 467 (quoting same). This court concluded in Zhao that it had authority to review the BIA’s discretionary denial of an alien’s motion for reconsideration, despite an awareness of “caselaw from other circuits to the contrary,” specifically Onyinkwa and Yerkovich. 404 F.3d at 303. In Onyinkwa, the Eighth Circuit held that it 6 lacked jurisdiction to review an immigration judge’s denial of a continuance, stating that because the “power to grant continuances is within the discretion of immigration judges . . . courts generally have no jurisdiction to review the exercise of that discretion.” 376 F.3d at 799. We rejected Onyinkwa’s reasoning in Zhao because we refused to endorse Onyinkwa’s interpretation of § 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii) “whereby any statutorily authorized regulation conferring discretion necessarily forecloses judicial review.” 404 F.3d at 303 n.6. We held that such a reading was both “contrary to Congress’s language and has clear policy consequences.” Id. In Yerkovich, the Tenth Circuit held that it lacked jurisdiction to review an immigration judge’s denial of a continuance, citing, inter alia, the Eighth Circuit’s decision in Onyinkwa. 381 F.3d at 994. Again, we rejected this reasoning in Zhao, pointing out that Yerkovich’s holding depended on a misstatement of the statutory text of § 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii) itself. 404 F.3d at 303 n.6. More specifically, we pointed out that Yerkovich omitted the phrase “the authority for which is specified” in its discussion of § 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii). Id. We concluded in Zhao that this misstatement caused the Tenth Circuit to “analyze statutory language that Congress did not adopt,” a mistake we declined and continue to decline to follow. Id. Even if a panel of this court had the authority to revisit our holdings in Manzano-Garcia and Zhao and our interpretation of § 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii), Onyinkwa, and Yerkovich, which it does not, 7 the government has provided us with no new reasons to do so. Therefore, we apply our previous reasoning to the matter at hand and conclude that we have jurisdiction to review the immigration judge’s decision to deny Ahmed’s motion for a continuance. Cf. Zafar v. United States Attorney General, 426 F.3d 1330, 1334 (11th Cir. 2005) (holding that § 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii) “precludes . . . review of discretionary decisions . . . in only the specific circumstances” specified in the statute itself); MedinaMorales v. Ashcroft, 371 F.3d 520, 528 (9th Cir. 2004) (stating that § 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii) “‘refers not to discretionary decisions,’ . . . but to acts the authority for which is specified under the INA to be discretionary”) (quoting Spencer Enters., Inc. v. United States, 345 F.3d 683, 689 (9th Cir. 2003)). When, as here, the BIA affirms the immigration judge and relies on the reasons set forth in the immigration judge’s decision, this court reviews the decision of the immigration judge as well as the decision of the BIA. Moin v. Ashcroft, 335 F.3d 415, 418 (5th Cir. 2003).