Court Opinion

ID: 9475815
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 05:39:10.792405+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:44:57.340964
License: Public Domain

NORRIS, Circuit Judge,
dissenting:
In Waziri v. INS, our circuit ruled that the INS bears the burden of proof in section 246 rescission proceedings. 392 F.2d 55, 57-58 (9th Cir.1968). In this case, the majority shifts this burden of proof to the permanent resident alien. Accordingly, I respectfully dissent.
Section 246 of the Immigration and Naturalization Act (the Act) provides in pertinent part that:
If, at any time within five years after the status of a person has been ... adjusted under the provisions of section 1255 ... of this title ... to that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence, it shall appear to the satisfaction of the Attorney General that the person was not in fact eligible for such adjustment of status, the Attorney General shall rescind the action taken granting an adjustment of status to such person ... and the person shall thereupon be subject to all provisions of this chapter to the same extent as if the adjustment of status had not been made.
8 U.S.C. § 1256(a). The INS may challenge a permanent resident alien’s eligibility for adjustment of status on a number of statutory grounds. See 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a) (enumerating 28 subgroups of excludable aliens). In this case, the INS claims Kim was ineligible at the time of his adjustment because he was excludable under section 212(a)(14) of the Act as an alien “seeking to enter the United States for the purpose of performing skilled or unskilled labor,” without labor certification from the Secretary of Labor. 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(14); see also 8 C.F.R. § 245.1(b)(5) (1986).1 The majority concedes that the INS has the burden of proving that Kim was excludable under section 212(a)(14), but holds that the INS carried its burden of proving that Kim intended to work here simply by proving that Kim sold his interest in “Home of Gifts” a few months before the INS granted his adjustment of status. Kim admits that the sale of his business interest disqualified him for the nonpreference investor exemption upon which he relied in his application for adjustment of status. See 8 C.F.R. § 212.8(b)(4) (1974). However, he argues that his ineligibility for the nonpreference investor exemption does not make him an excludable alien. As even the INS acknowledges, both section 212(a)(14) and the regulations state unequivocally that an alien is excludable only if he intends to engage in skilled or unskilled labor in the United States without proper labor certification. By shifting to the alien the burden of proving the absence of an intent to work in the United States at the time of the adjustment of status, the majority subverts Waziri’s holding that the INS has the burden of proving ineligibility for adjustment of status in a rescission proceeding.
In essence, the majority converts a fundamental element of the INS’s proof of ineligibility in a rescission action into an affirmative defense to be proven by the alien. The majority characterizes Kim’s assertion that the INS bears the burden of proving that an alien intends to work in the United States as an attempt to assert a new ground for adjustment of status. This ignores the fact that the INS has chosen to attempt to prove Kim ineligible for adjustment of status under section 212(a)(14)’s exclusion, which requires a finding that the alien intended to work in the United States. Surely, if the INS decided to seek rescission of an alien’s adjustment of status *1499because it later determined that the alien had entered the United States to “engage in [an] immoral sexual act,” the INS would bear the burden of proving the alien’s intent to engage in that act in violation of section 212(a)(13). I see no reason to treat the burden of proof differently when the INS chooses to seek rescission under subsection (14) rather than subsection (13), or any other exclusion category.
The majority further asserts that it would be “impractical” to place the burden of proof on the INS. I do not believe that the INS faces special difficulties in meeting its burden; requiring the alien to prove a negative hardly seems more practical than placing the burden on the INS to come forward with evidence to show that the alien had the intent to work in this country. Moreover, I do not find it “obvious” that the alien will have “greater access to the information necessary” to prove that he did not intend to work in the United States when he was granted his adjustment of status. The alien’s testimony and credibility will certainly play a central role in the determination, but that fact alone can hardly justify shifting the burden of proof without an indication of congressional intent to do so. Nor can it justify a panel’s failure to follow Waziri as controlling precedent.
Apparently, the majority has adopted for use in rescission proceedings the presumption applied by the INS to initial visa applications that “an intending immigrant is presumed to be seeking to enter for the purpose of performing labor unless he establishes the contrary,” 1 C. Gordon & H. Rosenfield, Immigration Law & Procedure § 2.40c(l), at 2-292 (1986).2 Unlike an incoming immigrant who must prove he is eligible for admission to the United States, a permanent resident has many of the rights of a citizen including an interest in “the opportunity to earn a living, to improve his economic circumstances, and to engage in common occupations, without unreasonable limitation or invidious discrimination.” Yui Sing Tse v. INS, 596 F.2d 831, 834 (9th Cir.1979); see also 1 Gordon & Rosenfield, Immigration Law and Procedure §§ 1.30-1.38, at 1-162 to 1-186 (1986). These attributes of citizenship are not lightly given, and once granted may not be divested by the mere application of a “presumption.” Indeed, since a rescission proceeding “paves the way for deportation,” Matter of Samedi, 14 I & N Dec. 625, 627 (1974) (Roberts, Chairman, dissenting), section 246 is subject to the general rule that “deportation statutes are to be construed in favor of the alien.” Yui Sing Tse, 596 F.2d at 835.3 If Congress had intended to deprive permanent resident aliens of their status without proof that the aliens were in fact excludable, it certainly would have said so explicitly. Accordingly, even though the presumption may hold when the alien applies for adjustment of status, it should not be imported into rescission proceedings to abrogate the government’s burden of proving ineligibility by clear and convincing evidence. See Waziri, 392 F.2d at 57. I would therefore reverse and remand this case to allow the INS to attempt to satisfy its burden of proving that at the time Kim’s status was adjusted, he intended to work in the United States.

. The exclusions of 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(14) apply because they make an alien ineligible to receive an immigrant visa or be admitted to the United States, two requirements of eligibility for an adjustment of status under 8 U.S.C. § 1255(a).

. The INS also disingenuously argues that Kim must prove he does not intend to work in the United States because 8 U.S.C. § 1256(a) places permanent resident aliens whose status is rescinded in the same position they occupied pri- or to adjustment of status. Even if applicants for admission to the United States bear the burden of proving lack of intent to work, permanent resident aliens are not returned to that position until after the government rescinds their adjusted status by proving they were ineligible for adjustment in the first place.

. The link between rescission proceedings and deportation was the foundation for this court’s application of the Woodby v. INS, 385 U.S. 276, 87 S.Ct. 483, 17 L.Ed.2d 362 (1966), requirement of "clear, unequivocal, and convincing” evidence to a rescission proceeding. Waziri, 392 F.2d at 57 (“If the objective of Woodby — that aliens not be deported unless the facts alleged by the government are found to be true by clear, unequivocal, and convincing evidence — is to be realized, then the Woodby standard of proof must apply in the rescission proceeding.”)