Court Opinion

ID: 9494786
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 15:46:48.68454+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:56:37.417569
License: Public Domain

BYE, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
The court concludes we have jurisdiction to consider substantial constitutional challenges to the Immigration and Nationality Act despite the jurisdiction-stripping provisions of 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(C). I am not as certain. The Supreme Court recently concluded an alien may file a petition for a writ of habeas corpus to challenge removal proceedings. INS v. St. Cyr, 533 U.S. 289, 121 S.Ct. 2271, 2287, 150 L.Ed.2d 347 (2001). St Cyr may alleviate concerns we have about Congress stripping the courts of jurisdiction to consider substantial constitutional challenges in a direct petition for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals. We recently expressed uncertainty about our jurisdiction over such matters, but because the government did not challenge the issue we assumed without deciding that we had jurisdiction in order to reach the merits of an equal protection challenge. See Lukowski v. INS, 279 F.3d 644 (8th Cir.2002). I would prefer to do the same here.