Yong Chen v. Jennifer B. Higgins, Acting Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services; Margaret Rosenast, Portland Field Office Director; Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security; and United States Citizenship and Immigration Services

Summary

The United States District Court for the District of Oregon granted Defendants’ motion to dismiss Yong Chen’s claims concerning the denial of his application for adjustment of status. The court held that 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(B)(i) stripped the district court of jurisdiction over Chen’s APA challenge to USCIS’s individualized adjustment-of-status decision. It further held that Chen’s constitutional claims had to be raised in a petition for review in the appropriate court of appeals.

Holdings

1. Section 1252(a)(2)(B)(i) strips the district court of subject matter jurisdiction over an APA claim challenging USCIS's individualized denial of an application for adjustment of status.
2. Even if Chen's APA claim presented a mixed question of law and fact, jurisdiction would lie in the appropriate court of appeals rather than in the district court.
3. The district court lacked jurisdiction over Chen's constitutional claims because § 1252(a)(2)(D) permits review of those claims only through a petition for review of a final order of removal filed in an appropriate court of appeals.

Questions Presented

1. Whether 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(B)(i) deprived the district court of subject matter jurisdiction over Chen's APA challenge to USCIS's individualized denial of his application for adjustment of status.
2. Whether the statutory exception in 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(D) permitted the district court to review Chen's claim as a constitutional claim or question of law, including a mixed question of law and fact.
3. Whether the district court had jurisdiction over Chen's constitutional claims when those claims were not presented in a petition for review of a final order of removal to an appropriate court of appeals.

Disposition

dismissed