Immigration – Jurisdiction

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: John Doe v. Kevin K. McAleenan

Case No.: 17-3521

Officials: RIPPLE, MANION, and SYKES, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Immigration – Jurisdiction

Plaintiff John Doe, an Iranian national, petitioned for conditional permanent residency in 2013. He used the EB-5 admission category, which offers visas for immigrants who invest in new job-creating enterprises. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (“USCIS” or “agency”) initially approved Doe’s petition but revoked its approval roughly two years later. Doe sought judicial review of the agency’s actions under the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”), 5 U.S.C. §§ 701 et seq. But the district court concluded that Congress had stripped its jurisdiction to review discretionary revocations of visa petitions and dismissed Doe’s suit. See 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii).

We affirm. Doe relies on the narrow jurisdictional gateway offered by Musunuru v. Lynch, 831 F.3d 880 (7th Cir. 2016). In Musunuru we held that § 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii) doesn’t preclude judicial review of purely procedural rulings during the adjudication of a visa petition. 831 F.3d at 887–88. But the ruling at issue here wasn’t procedural. Doe is challenging the agency’s substantive decision-making. And he cannot evade a jurisdiction-stripping statute by repackaging his substantive complaints as procedural objections.

Affirmed

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Derek A Hawkins is trademark corporate counsel for Harley-Davidson. Hawkins oversees the prosecution and maintenance of the Harley-Davidson’s international trademark portfolio in emerging markets.