Opinion ID: 772839
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Discrimination Based on Time of Service

Text: 32 The crux of Sad's argument that the BIA's application of the stop-time rule is irrational is that the transitional rule produces disparate results in individual cases consistent with no underlying rationale. In particular, Sad compares the case of an alien who evaded service of process for seven years and nonetheless remains eligible for cancellation of removal with an alien who accepted service but becomes ineligible because of retroactive application of the stop-time rule. 33 We review this claim under the rational-basis standard. Heller v. Doe, 509 U.S. 312 (1993), lays out the scope of a court's inquiry under this standard: 34 [A] legislature that creates these categories need not actually articulate at any time the purpose or rationale supporting its classification. Instead, a classification must be upheld against equal protection challenge if there is any reasonably conceivable state of facts that could provide a rational basis for the classification. A State, moreover, has no obligation to produce evidence to sustain the rationality of a statutory classification. A legislative choice is not subject to courtroom factfinding and may be based on rational speculation unsupported by evidence or empirical data. A statute is presumed constitutional, and the burden is on the one attacking the legislative arrangement to negative every conceivable basis which might support it, whether or not the basis has a foundation in the record. Finally, courts are compelled under rational-basis review to accept a legislature's generalizations even when there is an imperfect fit between means and ends. A classification does not fail rational-basis review because it is not made with mathematical nicety, or because in practice it results in some inequality. The problems of government are practical ones and may justify, if they do not require, rough accommodations--illogical, it may be, and unscientific. 35 Id. at 320-21 (internal citations and quotations omitted). In the case of immigration matters, rational-basis review requires even less because of Congress's plenary power over the field. Control over matters of immigration is a sovereign prerogative, largely within the control of the executive and the legislature. The role of the judiciary is limited to determining whether the procedures meet the essential standard of fairness under the Due Process Clause. Landon v. Plasencia, 459 U.S. 21, 34-35 (1982) (citations omitted). See also Reno v. Flores, 507 U.S. 292, 305 (1993) (Over no conceivable subject is the legislative power of Congress more complete.) (quoting Fiallo v. Bell, 430 U.S. 787, 792 (1977), quoting Oceanic Steam Navigation Co. v. Stranahan, 214 U.S. 320, 339 (1909)); Gao v. Jenifer, 185 F.3d 548, 552 (6th Cir. 1999). 36 Sad may accurately describe the state of affairs under the statute. The stop-time rule, however, represents a legitimate policy choice to remove incentives to delay deportation or removal proceedings once they have begun. That some aliens will evade service does not implicate this rationale, cf. Tefel, 180 F.3d at 1299, or render the statute irrational since Congress neednot draw lines within the statute with absolute precision.