Opinion ID: 3033086
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: jurisdiction

Text: While this case was pending, Congress enacted the Real ID Act of 2005, Pub. L. No. 109-13, 199 Stat. 231, 310-11 (amending 8 U.S.C. § 1252) (May 11, 2005). The Act amends the INA by eliminating federal habeas jurisdiction in favor of petitions for review that raise “constitutional claims or questions of law.” Id. at § 106(a)(1). Although the Act applies retroactively, see id. at § 106(b), its application to pending appeals is uncertain. See id. at § 106(c) (providing a procedure only for the transfer of petitions currently before the district courts). It is unclear, for example, whether Congress intended for the Act to affect habeas petitions where judgment has already been entered by a district court. But we need not resolve this issue here because we would treat the appeal in the same manner were it a petition for review under section 106. That is, we would still review the merits of Cordes’s 2 As of March 1, 2003, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (“INS”) ceased to exist and its enforcement functions were transferred to the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement within the Department of Homeland Security. See Homeland Security Act, Pub. L. No. 107296, 116 Stat. 2135 (Nov. 25, 2002). For ease of reference, however, we refer to the applicable government agency as the INS. 10282 CORDES v. GONZALES constitutional claims. We thus proceed to decide this case under 28 U.S.C. § 2253, as an appeal from the denial of a habeas petition.