Maria Dijamco v. Chad F. Wolf

Summary

Seventh Circuit held that federal courts lack subject matter jurisdiction to review USCIS's revocation of a visa petition under 8 U.S.C. § 1155, because that statute commits the decision to unreviewable agency discretion under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(B). The court also rejected the plaintiff's attempt to challenge the revocation under the Administrative Procedure Act, as the INA's specific jurisdictional bars override the APA's general review provisions. Additionally, the court found that 8 U.S.C. § 1154(l), which allows adjudication of visa petitions despite the sponsor's death, did not apply retroactively to petitions revoked before its enactment, and any discretionary reinstatement under agency policy remained unreviewable. The district court's dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction was affirmed.

Holdings

1. The district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction because Congress precluded judicial review of discretionary immigration decisions under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(B). The revocation under § 1155 is a discretionary decision, and the refusal to reinstate under § 1154(l) and agency policy is also discretionary and unreviewable.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the district court had subject matter jurisdiction over Dijamco's claims challenging USCIS's revocation of her visa petition under 8 U.S.C. § 1155 and refusal to reinstate under § 1154(l) and agency policy.

Disposition

affirmed