Court Opinion

ID: 9499242
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 17:41:55.155298+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:59:22.135014
License: Public Domain

BYBEE, Circuit Judge,
with whom SILVERMAN, Circuit Judge, joins,
concurring in part and dissenting in part:
I agree with much of the majority’s opinion. I write separately because I believe that the majority has overstepped the bounds of INS v. Ventura, 537 U.S. 12, 123 S.Ct. 353, 154 L.Ed.2d 272 (2002). The majority finds that BIA has previously construed 8 U.S.C. § 1160(a)(1) to mean that Perez-Enriquez’s admissibility is determined only as of the date of admission to lawful temporary status. See Matter of Jimenez-Lopez, 20 I. & N. Dec. 738, 1993 WL 494088 (BIA 1993). It agrees with BIA and affords these decisions Chevron deference. Maj. Op. at 1012. It then contrasts BIA’s prior position with its position in this case, which BIA evidently felt compelled to take because of the panel’s original decision. Finding BIA’s position in this case inconsistent with its prior position, the majority concludes that BIA’s decision in this case must be erroneous and vacates the order of removal.
I am with the majority until that final step. I am not so confident that we can reach that conclusion for BIA, even though we may have invited the error. An agency has a duty of consistent dealing. It also has the duty, in the first instance, to construe the statutes it enforces. Having determined that BIA has treated Perez-En-riquez in a manner inconsistent with BIA’s prior rulings, I would grant the petition and remand to BIA for an explanation. It seems to me that BIA has three options. First, it can determine that its ruling in Perez-Enriquez’s case is, indeed, inconsistent with its prior rulings and can grant him the same relief. Based on BIA’s observations in In re Flores-Munoz, 2004 WL 2418626 (BIA Aug. 27, 2004), on the panel’s now-withdrawn opinion in this case, see Maj. Op. at 1013-14, I would be surprised if BIA did not acknowledge that it made a mistake in Perez-Enriquez’s case and correct it. Second, BIA can explain why Perez-Enriquez’s situation is factually different from Matter of Jimenez-Lopez and the cases following it. Or, third, BIA can explain that it has changed its view on how Section 1160(a)(1) should be construed.
It is the possibility that BIA will pursue this last option that raises the greatest concerns. The Supreme Court has “rejected the argument that an agency’s interpretation ‘is not entitled to deference because it represents a sharp break with prior interpretations’ of the statute in question.” Rust v. Sullivan, 500 U.S. 173, 186, 111 S.Ct. 1759, 114 L.Ed.2d 233 (1991) (quoting Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Res. Def. Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837, 862, 104 S.Ct. 2778, 81 L.Ed.2d 694 (1984)). “An initial agency interpretation is not instantly carved in stone,” because the agency “must consider varying interpretations and the wisdom of its policy on continuing basis.” Chevron, 467 U.S. at 863-64, 104 S.Ct. 2778. Thus, “[t]he [BIA] is not es-topped from changing a view [it] believes to have been grounded upon a mistaken legal interpretation.” Good Samaritan Hosp. v. Shalala, 508 U.S. 402, 417, 113 S.Ct. 2151, 124 L.Ed.2d 368 (1993). I do not read the majority’s decision to conclude that there is only one possible construction of Section 1160, so that any other construction would be unreasonable as a matter of law. See Cuevas-Gaspar v. Gonzales, 430 F.3d 1013, 1026 (9th Cir.2005) (concluding that BIA departed from its prior practice and that its “interpretation is unreasonable, [and] we need not defer to it”). Were BIA to change its view, we *1017might afford its new position something less than full Chevron deference, see Good Samaritan Hosp., 508 U.S. at 417, 113 S.Ct. 2151; INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. 421, 446 n. 30, 107 S.Ct. 1207, 94 L.Ed.2d 434 (1987), but I don’t see that we can preclude BIA from offering a “reasonable rationale supporting its departure from prior practice.” Seldovia Native Ass’n v. Lujan, 904 F.2d 1335, 1345 (9th Cir.1990).
Because I don’t think that we can prejudge how BIA should treat this case, I respectfully dissent as to Part IV of the opinion. “Generally speaking, a court of appeals should remand a case to an agency for decision of a matter that statutes place primarily in agency hands.” Ventura, 537 U.S. at 16, 123 S.Ct. 353. I would grant Perez-Enriquez’s petition and remand to BIA to figure it out.