Opinion ID: 2719819
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Termination of Asylum

Text: Lena also asserts the BIA erred in its conclusion that the USCIS had the authority to terminate her prior grant of asylum. She bases this argument on the differing language of the statutes addressing the grant or termination of asylum. The statue providing for a grant of asylum, 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(1)(A), provides “[t]he Secretary of Homeland Security or the Attorney General may grant asylum to an alien” if the alien has properly applied for asylum and is a refugee as defined by 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42)(A).” (Emphasis added). The statute providing for termination of asylum, 8 U.S.C. § 1158(c)(2), provides that a grant of asylum “may be terminated if the Attorney General determines that” any of several conditions are met, including if the alien no longer meets the conditions described in 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(1). (Emphasis added). The regulation addressing termination of asylum states, however, that “[a]n asylum officer [of the USCIS] may terminate a grant of asylum made under the jurisdiction of [the] USCIS if, following an interview, the asylum officer determines” that “[t]here is a showing of fraud in the alien’s application such that he or she was not eligible for asylum at the time it was granted.” 8 C.F.R. § 208.24(a)(1). Lena argues that, looking to the plain language of 8 U.S.C. § 1158(c)(2), only the Attorney General has the Artunduaga v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 463 F.3d 1247, 1251 (11th Cir. 2006) (stating if a petitioner has failed to exhaust his administrative remedies, we lack jurisdiction to consider the claim). 6 Case: 14-10023 Date Filed: 08/21/2014 Page: 7 of 9 authority to terminate her prior grant of asylum. She finds support for this argument in Nijjar v. Holder, 689 F.3d 1077, 1082 (9th Cir. 2012), which holds that “Congress did not confer the authority to terminate asylum on the Department of Homeland Security [DHS]. Congress conferred that authority exclusively on the Department of Justice.” Prior to the inception of the DHS, the Attorney General delegated the authority over asylum claims, including the termination of grants of asylum, to the Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), and the Executive Office for Immigration Review. Nijjar, 689 F.3d at 1078; see also Pierre v. Rivkind, 825 F.2d 1501, 1504 (11th Cir. 1987) (“[the] INS, under authority delegated to it by the Attorney General, may, in its discretion, grant an alien asylum”); Gebremichael v. INS, 10 F.3d 28, 32 n.9 (1st Cir. 1993) (noting the Attorney General’s authority in asylum matters was delegated to the INS). In 2003, the power formerly exercised by the INS Commissioner over “[a]djudications of asylum and refugee applications,” was transferred to the USCIS by section 451 of the Homeland Security Act. See 6 U.S.C. § 271(b) (providing “there are transferred from the Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization to the Director of the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services the following functions . . . (3) Adjudications of asylum and refugee applications . . . . [and] (5) All other adjudications performed by the [INS] immediately before [the 7 Case: 14-10023 Date Filed: 08/21/2014 Page: 8 of 9 Homeland Security Act’s effective date]”). Additionally, in transferring functions from the INS to the DHS, 6 U.S.C. § 557 provided: With respect to any function transferred by or under this chapter . . . , reference in any other Federal law to any department, commission, or agency or any officer or office the functions of which are so transferred shall be deemed to refer to the Secretary, other official, or component of [DHS] to which such function is so transferred. In Scheerer v. U.S. Att’y Gen., we held that, while the language of 8 U.S.C. § 1255(a) gave the authority to adjust the status of a nonimmigrant to that of a permanent resident to the Attorney General, Congress had “allocated jurisdiction over adjustment applications to both [the] DHS and the Department of Justice.” 513 F.3d 1244, 1251 (11th Cir. 2008) (emphasis added). In making this determination, we noted: Section 1255(a) refers only to adjustment of status “by the Attorney General,” but Congress has transferred the adjudication functions of the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to the Secretary of Homeland Security and his delegate in USCIS. 6 U.S.C. § 271(b)(5); see also 6 U.S.C. § 577 (providing that references in federal law to any officer whose functions have been transferred to DHS shall be deemed to refer to DHS Secretary or other official). Id. at 1251 n.6. The BIA did not err in holding the USCIS had the authority to terminate Lena’s asylum status. Like the statute at issue in Scheerer, the language of the statute at issue here expressly delegated the authority to act only to the Attorney General. Compare 8 U.S.C. § 1255(a), with 8 U.S.C. § 1158(c)(2). However, as 8 Case: 14-10023 Date Filed: 08/21/2014 Page: 9 of 9 was the case in Scheerer, this language does not limit the authority to act solely to the Attorney General. In reaching our conclusion in Scheerer, we specifically examined the transfer and statutory construction provisions of 6 U.S.C. §§ 271(b) and 557, concluding that “Congress has transferred the adjudication functions of the former [INS] to the Secretary of [the DHS] and his delegate in [the] USCIS.” 513 F.3d at 1251 n.6. The adjudication functions of the INS included the adjudication of asylum. See Rivkind, 825 F.2d at 1504; Gebremichael, 10 F.3d at 32 n.9. Scheerer controls this case, and thus our precedent supports that the authority to terminate asylum transferred to the USCIS. See Scheerer, 513 F.3d at 1251-52 & n.6. PETITION DENIED IN PART, DISMISSED IN PART. 9