Court Opinion

ID: 9297405
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2022-11-30 17:00:20.614191+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:13:26.675019
License: Public Domain

United States Court of Appeals
                             For the Eighth Circuit
                        ___________________________

                                No. 21-2551
                        ___________________________

                    Benjamin Slappendel; Katherine Amerson

                       lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiffs - Appellants

                                           v.

  Lorne Miller, Associate Director, Nebraska Service Center; John/Jane Doe,
Adjudicator; Merrick B. Garland, Attorney General; Alejandro Mayorkas, Acting
 Secretary of Homeland Security; Tracy Renaud, Director, U.S. Citizenship and
                             Immigration Services

                      lllllllllllllllllllllDefendants - Appellees
                                       ____________

                     Appeal from United States District Court
                      for the District of Nebraska - Lincoln
                                  ____________

                         Submitted: November 23, 2022
                           Filed: November 30, 2022
                                 [Unpublished]
                                 ____________

Before LOKEN, MELLOY, and STRAS, Circuit Judges.
                           ____________

PER CURIAM.

      Benjamin Slappendel and his wife appeal the dismissal of their lawsuit
seeking to reverse the denial of his application for an immigrant visa. See Al-
Saadoon v. Barr, 973 F.3d 794, 800 (8th Cir. 2020) (reviewing the grant of a motion
to dismiss de novo). The district court 1 dismissed for lack of subject-matter
jurisdiction because “decision[s] . . . to grant or deny a[n] [immigration] waiver” are
unreviewable in these circumstances. See 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(2)(A)(i)(I), (h); see
also 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(B)(i) (“[N]o court shall have jurisdiction to review . . .
any judgment regarding the granting of relief under section 1182(h).”). We affirm
the district court’s reasoning but modify the dismissal to be without prejudice. See
County of Mille Lacs v. Benjamin, 361 F.3d 460, 464 (8th Cir. 2004) (“A district
court is generally barred from dismissing a case with prejudice if it concludes
subject[-]matter jurisdiction is absent.”).
                         ______________________________

      1
       The Honorable Robert F. Rossiter, Jr., then United States District Judge for
the District of Nebraska, now Chief Judge.
                                       -2-