Rosario v. Holder

     09-3877-ag
     Rosario v. Holder

 1                     UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
 2
 3                         FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT
 4
 5                           August Term, 2010
 6
 7
 8    (Argued: September 1, 2010        Decided: December 6, 2010)
 9
10                         Docket No. 09-3877-ag
11
12   - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -x
13
14   JOSEFA ROSARIO,
15
16                 Petitioner,
17
18             - v.-                                    09-3877-ag
19
20   ERIC H. HOLDER, JR., in his capacity as
21   United States Attorney General,
22
23                 Respondent.*
24
25   - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -x
26

27       Before:          DENNIS JACOBS, Chief Judge,
28                        REENA RAGGI, Circuit Judge,
29                        JED S. RAKOFF,** District Judge.
30
31       Petitioner, a citizen of the Dominican Republic, seeks

32   cancellation of removal as an abused spouse under the



          *
            The Clerk of Court is respectfully instructed to
     amend the official case caption as shown above.
          **
           The Honorable Jed S. Rakoff, of the United States
     District Court for the Southern District of New York,
     sitting by designation.
1    amended Immigration and Naturalization Act.      8 U.S.C. §

2    1229b(b)(2).    An Immigration Judge concluded that Rosario

3    was not “battered or subjected to extreme cruelty” as

4    defined by the statute and therefore did not warrant

5    discretionary cancellation of removal, and the Board of

6    Immigration Appeals affirmed.       We dismiss the petition for

7    lack of subject matter jurisdiction because the BIA’s

8    decision raises no constitutional claims or questions of

9    law.

10
11   FOR PETITIONER:     ELYSSA N. WILLIAMS (Andrew B. Insenga, Glenn
12                       L. Formica on the briefs)
13                       Formica, P.C.
14                       900 Chapel St. Suite 1200
15                       New Haven, CT 06510
16
17   FOR RESPONDENT:     MATTHEW A. SPURLOCK (Tony West, Ada E.
18                       Bosque on the briefs)
19                       U.S. Department of Justice
20                       Office of Immigration
21                       Ben Franklin Station
22                       P.O. Box 878
23                       Washington, DC 20044
24
25
26
27   DENNIS JACOBS, Chief Judge:
28
29          The Petitioner, Josefa Rosario, is a citizen of the
30   Dominican Republic who seeks cancellation of removal as an
31   abused spouse under the amended Immigration and

32   Naturalization Act.    8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b)(2).    An Immigration
33   Judge (“IJ”) found that Rosario was not “battered or
                                     2
1    subjected to extreme cruelty” within the meaning of the
2    statute and therefore did not warrant discretionary
3    cancellation of removal.   The Board of Immigration Appeals

4    (“BIA”) affirmed.   We dismiss Rosario’s petition for lack of
5    subject matter jurisdiction because the BIA’s decision

6    raises no constitutional claims or questions of law.
7
8                               BACKGROUND

9        Rosario was found credible by the IJ; we therefore

10   adduce the facts to which she testified.
11       Rosario entered the United States on a one-month non-

12   immigrant tourist visa in 1994.    After overstaying by

13   approximately two years, she married Pedro Martinez, a U.S.
14   citizen, and petitioned to adjust her status to Legal

15   Permanent Resident in 1996.

16       The marriage soured soon after the petition was filed,
17   and Martinez became aggressive and insulting.    There were

18   approximately five incidents of physical abuse or
19   intimidation in the three-month period between June 1997 and
20   September 1997, when Martinez was jailed (for offenses

21   unrelated to Rosario).   There are no allegations of abuse
22   after his release from prison in 2000.

23       During the incidents of abuse, Martinez (variously)
24   grabbed Rosario by the arms and shoulders, shook her,

                                    3
1    verbally insulted her, and threw her on the bed.       Martinez
2    also demanded money from her and threatened to withdraw her
3    application for a Green Card.       Rosario did not report these

4    incidents to the police or seek medical attention.
5        During this time, Rosario’s Green Card application

6    languished, and, in 2000, it was denied as abandoned.       In
7    2002, the Department of Homeland Security served Rosario
8    with a Notice to Appear and charged her with removal.

9        At her Notice to Appear hearing, Rosario admitted she

10   was in the U.S. illegally and conceded removability.       Soon
11   afterward, she filed a petition for Special Rule

12   Cancellation of Removal under 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b)(2)(A),

13   which gives the Attorney General discretion to cancel the
14   removal of an otherwise deportable alien who has been

15   “battered or subjected to extreme cruelty” by her U.S.

16   citizen spouse.
17       In 2008, an IJ denied Rosario’s petition, concluding

18   that she had not been "battered or subjected to extreme
19   cruelty."   Rosario appealed this decision to the BIA, which
20   affirmed.   Rosario now seeks review in this Court.

21
22                             DISCUSSION
23                                   I.



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1        As part of the 1994 Violence Against Women Act,
2    Congress granted the Attorney General discretion to cancel
3    the removal of otherwise deportable aliens who were found to

4    have been “battered or subjected to extreme cruelty” by
5    their U.S. citizen spouses.   Pub. L. No. 103-322, § 40703,

6    108 Stat. 1796, 1955 (1994) (codified at 8 U.S.C. §
7    1229b(b)(2)(A)).   The five requisites for this relief are:
 8       (1) “the alien has been battered or subjected to
 9            extreme cruelty by a spouse” who is a U.S. citizen
10            or permanent resident;
11
12       (2) “the alien has been physically present in the
13            United States for a continuous period of not less
14            than 3 years”;
15
16       (3) “the alien has been a person of good moral
17            character during such period”;
18
19       (4) “the alien...has not been convicted of an
20            aggravated felony”; and
21
22       (5) “the removal would result in extreme hardship to
23            the alien, the alien’s child, or the alien’s
24            parent.”
25
26   8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b)(2)(A)(i)-(v).
27       The determination as to whether an alien should be

28   given this discretionary cancellation of removal is made by

29   an IJ subject to appeal to the BIA.   In 1996, Congress

30   stripped the federal courts of jurisdiction to review these

31   discretionary rulings.   Illegal Immigration Reform and

32   Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104-208, §



                                   5
1    306, 110 Stat. 3009, 3009-607 (codified at 8 U.S.C. §

2    1252(a)(2)(B)(i)).

3        Concerned that a complete ban on judicial review of BIA

4    determinations might violate the Suspension Clause, the

5    Supreme Court in 2001 construed the jurisdictional ban to

6    allow for limited federal court review of BIA decisions.

7    INS v. St. Cyr, 533 U.S. 289, 307 (2001).   Specifically, the

8    Court held that even where the Attorney General had

9    discretion over whether to grant cancellation of removal,

10   the alien was nevertheless entitled to a determination of

11   whether she was eligible for discretionary cancellation, and

12   that this determination of eligibility was reviewable in the

13   U.S. Circuit Courts when it was “governed by specific

14   statutory standards.”   Id.   Thus, while the federal courts

15   retained jurisdiction to review the legal question of

16   statutory eligibility, the Attorney General’s exercise of

17   discretion could not be second-guessed.

18       The REAL ID Act of 2005 amended the Illegal Immigration

19   Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (“IIRIRA”) to

20   obviate the Supreme Court’s Suspension Clause concerns.

21   Pub. L. No. 109-13, § 106, 119 Stat. 231, 310 (codified in

22   at 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(D)); see also Xiao Ji Chen v.
23   Gonzales, 471 F.3d 315, 326 (2d Cir. 2006) (describing

                                    6
1    legislative history of REAL ID Act).    The REAL ID Act
2    prescribed an exception to the general ban on judicial
3    review of BIA decisions for Circuit Court review of

4    “constitutional claims or questions of law.”    8 U.S.C. §
5    1252(a)(2)(D).

6        In the wake of St. Cyr and the REAL ID Act, this Court
7    described the scope of its jurisdiction to review BIA
8    determinations in two ways.   First, based on St. Cyr, we

9    stated that we could review those “nondiscretionary

10   decisions” by the BIA that underlie its exercise of
11   discretion in granting or denying cancellation of removal.

12   See, e.g., Rodriguez v. Gonzales, 451 F.3d 60, 62 (2d Cir.

13   2006) (describing scope of review as over nondiscretionary
14   determinations underlying discretionary relief); Sepulveda

15   v. Gonzales, 407 F.3d 59, 62-63 (2d Cir. 2005).    Later,

16   based on the REAL ID Act, we stated that we could review

17   “all constitutional claims or questions of law” raised by

18   the BIA’s exercise of its discretion.    See, e.g., Argueta v.

19   Holder, 617 F.3d 109, 112 (2d Cir. 2010) (describing scope

20   of review as over constitutional and legal questions).

21   These two characterizations, which may appear to be two

22   separate avenues of jurisdiction, are congruent:    BIA

23   statutory interpretation pursuant to an eligibility


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1    determination is nondiscretionary and therefore reviewable

2    precisely because it presents a legal question.       In

3    contrast, the BIA’s factfinding, factor-balancing, and

4    exercise of discretion normally do not involve legal or

5    constitutional questions, so we lack jurisdiction to review

6    them.

7

8                                  II.

9        When the BIA’s decision explicitly rests on a legal

10   prescription or statutory interpretation, we unambiguously
11   have jurisdiction to review it.       See Sepulveda, 407 F.3d at

12   63 (holding that court has jurisdiction to review BIA

13   determination that alien is ineligible for discretionary

14   relief as a matter of law).   Similarly, when the BIA
15   explicitly finds an alien to be eligible for discretionary

16   relief but then refuses to grant relief as an exercise of
17   its discretion, such a decision is not reviewable.
18   Determining whether we have jurisdiction to review is more
19   difficult when the BIA is engaged in the application of law

20   to facts.
21       We determine our jurisdiction by looking at the

22   underlying nature of the BIA’s determination rather than any
23   gloss offered by the parties.       Argueta, 617 F.3d at 112 (“We


                                     8
1    do not rely solely on a petitioner’s description of his
2    claims, but scrutinize a petitioner’s arguments to determine
3    whether they raise reviewable questions.” (internal

4    quotation marks omitted)); Barco-Sandoval v. Gonzales, 516
5    F.3d 35, 39 (2d Cir. 2008) (“[A] petitioner cannot us[e] the

6    rhetoric of a constitutional claim or question of law to
7    disguise what is essentially a quarrel about fact-finding or
8    the exercise of discretion.” (internal quotation marks

9    omitted)).    We ask whether the BIA is expressing legal

10   doctrine or whether it is engaged in the factfinding and
11   factor-balancing that are at the core of its discretion.

12       Although, in some sense, every BIA decision involves

13   the application of law to fact, not every such decision is
14   reviewable.    See Xiao Ji Chen, 471 F.3d at 331 (“The mere

15   use of the term ‘erroneous application’ of a statute will

16   not, however, convert a quarrel over an exercise of
17   discretion into a question of law.”).    The mixed questions

18   of law and fact in BIA decisions are reviewable in three
19   situations:
20       (1) Where the BIA applies the wrong statute,
21            misinterprets the correct statute, or uses an
22            erroneous legal standard;
23
24       (2) Where the BIA’s underlying factual determination is
25            “flawed by an error of law”; and
26
27       (3) Where the BIA’s conclusion is “without rational
28            justification,” meaning it is located so far

                                    9
1             outside the range of reasonable options that it is
2             erroneous as a matter of law.
3
4    See Mendez v. Holder, 566 F.3d 316, 322 (2d Cir. 2009)

5    (articulating three situations); Barco-Sandoval, 516 F.3d at

6    39 (same); Xiao Ji Chen, 471 F.3d at 329 (same).   Except in
7    these scenarios, the BIA’s application of law to fact
8    amounts to the exercise of its discretion and does not raise
9    the legal or constitutional question required for our

10   jurisdiction.

11
12                                III.

13       Every new petition to review a BIA decision requires us

14   to make a jurisdictional inquiry: first asking whether the
15   BIA’s decision involves a clear legal prescription; second,
16   where the decision only involves the application of clearly

17   established law to a set of facts, asking whether the BIA’s
18   determination comes within any of the three specific
19   scenarios that justify review.
20       This Circuit has already considered our jurisdiction to

21   review BIA rulings on certain other aspects of abuse-based
22   cancellation of removal.   In Rodriguez v. Gonzales, 451 F.3d

23   60 (2d Cir. 2006), we held that whether an alien has been

24   convicted of an aggravated felony always presents a legal
25   question and is therefore nondiscretionary and reviewable.
26   Id. at 62-63.   Similarly, in Sepulveda v. Gonzales, 407 F.3d
                                   10
1    59 (2d. Cir. 2005), we suggested, but did not hold, that
2    whether an alien satisfies the continuous physical presence
3    requirement also presents a legal question and its therefore

4    reviewable.   Id. at 63.   In Sepulveda, we also reviewed a
5    BIA ruling that criminal convictions legally preclude

6    finding that the alien is of “good moral character.”     Id. at
7    63-64.   Although the fact-specific nature of a moral
8    character assessment ordinarily suggests that it would

9    constitute an exercise of discretion not a legal

10   determination, we held in Sepulveda that the BIA’s ruling on
11   moral character presented a legal question in that

12   particular case because it was explicitly premised on the

13   criminal convictions as a matter of law.    Id.
14       In contrast, in Barco-Sandoval v. Gonzales, 516 F.3d 35

15   (2d Cir. 2008), and Mendez v. Holder, 566 F.3d 316 (2d Cir.

16   2009), we held that whether an alien would suffer “extreme
17   hardship” if deported ordinarily does not require statutory

18   interpretation but instead involves the application of the
19   law to particular facts.   Thus, we lack jurisdiction to
20   review such determinations unless they fall into one of the

21   three categories described in Part II.

22
23                                 IV.



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1        Now, we must decide whether we have jurisdiction to
2    review BIA determinations as to whether a spouse has been
3    “battered or subjected to extreme cruelty.”    Like “extreme

4    hardship”--and unlike criminal conviction or continuous
5    physical presence--whether an alien has been “battered or

6    subjected to extreme cruelty” under the statute generally
7    entails a factual judgment, not a legal prescription.
8        This conclusion finds support in the fact that Congress

9    did not provide a specific statutory definition for the

10   terms, and in the fact that the regulatory gloss on the
11   terms, while requiring more than the unwanted touching of

12   common law battery, contemplates the exercise of

13   considerable discretion in assessing the totality of the
14   circumstances.   See 8 C.F.R. § 204.2(c)(1)(vi). 1


          1
            8 C.F.R. § 204.2(c)(1)(vi) permits an abused spouse
     of a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident to
     self-petition for an adjustment of status. The regulation
     states that the phrase “was battered by or was the subject
     of extreme cruelty” includes, but is not limited to:

         being the victim of any act or threatened act of
         violence, including any forceful detention, which
         results or threatens to result in physical or mental
         injury. Psychological or sexual abuse or exploitation,
         including rape, molestation, incest (if the victim is a
         minor), or forced prostitution shall be considered acts
         of violence. Other abusive actions may also be acts of
         violence under certain circumstances, including acts
         that, in and of themselves, may not initially appear
         violent but that are a part of an overall pattern of
         violence.
                                   12
1        Thus, BIA determinations as to whether an alien has
2    been “battered or subjected to extreme cruelty” require the
3    application of law to fact, rather than statutory

4    interpretation.    As such, we have jurisdiction to review
5    these determinations only when the BIA applies an incorrect

6    law or legal standard, bases its decision on a factfinding
7    premised on an error of law, or reaches a conclusion that
8    lacks any rational justification.

9        Finally, we observe that all but one of our sister

10   circuits who have considered this question have reached the
11   same conclusion.    Johnson v. Attorney Gen., 602 F.3d 508,

12   511 (3d Cir. 2010) (holding that BIA “extreme cruelty”

13   determination is discretionary and not reviewable);
14   Stepanovic v. Filip, 554 F.3d 673, 679-80 (7th Cir. 2009)

15   (same); Ramdane v. Mukasey, 296 F. App’x 440, 442 (6th Cir.

16   2008); Wilmore v. Gonzales, 455 F.3d 524, 527 (5th Cir.
17   2006); Perales-Cumpean v. Gonzales, 429 F.3d 977, 982 (10th

18   Cir. 2005).   But see Hernandez v. Ashcroft, 345 F.3d 824,
19   835 (9th Cir. 2003) (holding that BIA “extreme cruelty”
20   determination is nondiscretionary and reviewable).

21
22                                  V.

23       Rosario’s petition turns on the question whether she
24   qualifies as “battered or subjected to extreme cruelty.”

                                    13
1    Therefore, the BIA’s decision in this case involves the
2    application of law to fact:   a determination of whether
3    Rosario’s situation rendered her “battered or subjected to

4    extreme cruelty” under the statute.   Rosario’s petition
5    therefore does not automatically raise a legal or

6    constitutional issue; it only does so where the BIA applied
7    the wrong law or misapplied the appropriate law or legal
8    standard, based its decision on a factual finding premised

9    on a legal error, or reached a conclusion so far outside the

10   range of reasonable options as to be without rational
11   justification.

12       Here, the BIA applied the correct law, 8 U.S.C. §

13   1229b(b)(2)(A)(i), and the correct legal standard, 8 C.F.R.
14   § 204.2(e)(1)(vi), to Rosario’s case.   There were no legal

15   errors underlying any of the factual findings the BIA used

16   to reach its decision.   And given the level of abuse Rosario
17   claims to have suffered, it cannot be said that the BIA’s

18   conclusion was without rational justification.   Thus, the
19   BIA’s decision does not fall within any of the three
20   scenarios where we retain jurisdiction to review.

21       Ultimately, the question whether the abuse Rosario
22   suffered qualifies her for cancellation of removal is not

23   answered by legal analysis but entails a weighing of facts
24   and circumstances, the sort of value judgment that lies at

                                   14
1    the core of the BIA’s exercise of discretion.    The BIA’s
2    reasoning can be described as an application of law to fact,
3    but that characterization cannot convert a factual

4    determination into a legal question.    Because the BIA’s
5    decision raised no question of law, we may not second-guess

6    its discretionary factual judgment that Rosario is not
7    eligible for cancellation of removal.    Therefore, we lack
8    jurisdiction to hear Rosario’s petition.
9
10                            CONCLUSION

11       For the foregoing reasons, we dismiss Rosario’s

12   petition for review from an order of the Board of

13   Immigration Appeals for lack of jurisdiction.




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