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Guerrero-Lasprilla v. Barr

Guerrero-Lasprilla v. Barr

Supreme Court of the United States

December 9, 2019, Argued ; March 23, 2020, Decided 1

No Number in Original

Opinion

 [*1067]  Justice Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court.

Section 242(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, codified as 8 U. S. C. §1252(a),  [**276]  provides for judicial review of a final Government order directing the removal of an alien from this country. See 66 Stat. 163, as amended, 8 U. S. C. §1101 et seq. A subdivision of that section limits the scope of that review where the removal rests upon the fact that the alien has committed certain crimes, including aggravated felonies and controlled substance offenses. §1252(a)(2)(C). Another subdivision, §1252(a)(2)(D), which we shall call the Limited Review Provision, says that in such instances courts may consider only “constitutional claims or questions of law.” The question that these two consolidated cases present is whether the phrase “questions of law” in the Provision includes the application of a legal standard to undisputed or established facts. We believe that it does.

The two petitioners before us, Pedro Pablo Guerrero-Lasprilla [***8]  and Ruben Ovalles, are aliens who lived in the United States. Each committed a drug crime and consequently became removable. App. 33; Record in No. 18-1015, p. 66. In 1998, an Immigration Judge ordered Guerrero-Lasprilla removed. Record in No. 18-776, p. 137. In 2004, the Board of Immigration Appeals ordered Ovalles removed, reversing a decision by an Immigration Judge. App. to Pet. for Cert. in No. 18-1015, pp. 32a-35a. Both removal orders became administratively final, and both petitioners left the country.

Several months after their removal orders became final, each petitioner’s window for filing a timely motion to reopen his removal proceedings closed. That is because the Immigration and Nationality Act permits a person one motion to reopen, “a form of procedural relief that asks the Board to change its decision in light of newly discovered evidence or a change in circumstances.” Dada v. Mukasey, 554 U. S. 1, 12, 14, 128 S. Ct. 2307, 171 L. Ed. 2d 178 (2008) (internal quotation marks omitted). But the motion must usually be filed “within 90 days of the date of entry of a final administrative order of removal.” 8 U. S. C. §1229a(c)(7)(C)(i).

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140 S. Ct. 1062 *; 206 L. Ed. 2d 271 **; 2020 U.S. LEXIS 1907 ***; 28 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 81

PEDRO PABLO GUERRERO-LASPRILLA, Petitioner (No. 18-776) v. WILLIAM P. BARR, ATTORNEY GENERAL

Notice: This preliminary Lexis version is unedited and subject to revision. The LEXIS pagination of this document is subject to change pending release of the final published version.

Subsequent History: Petition denied by, On remand at Ovalles v. Rosen, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 320 (5th Cir., Jan. 6, 2021)

Prior History:  [***1] ON WRITS OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

Guerrero-Lasprilla v. Sessions, 737 Fed. Appx. 230, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 26203, 2018 WL 4360945 (5th Cir., Sept. 12, 2018)Ovalles v. Sessions, 741 Fed. Appx. 259, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 30857, 2018 WL 5733692 (5th Cir., Oct. 31, 2018)

Disposition: No. 18-776, 737 Fed. Appx. 230; No. 18-1015, 741 Fed. Appx. 259, vacated and remanded.

CORE TERMS

question of law, judicial review, mixed question, legal standard, aliens, courts, court of appeals, cases, mixed question of law, subparagraph, undisputed, removal proceedings, Immigration, questions, constitutional claim, equitable tolling, established fact, words, legislative history, question of fact, due diligence, habeas review, jurisdiction-stripping, encompass, includes, removal, reopen, zipper, removal order, provisions

Immigration Law, Deportation & Removal, Grounds for Deportation & Removal, Criminal Activity, Judicial Proceedings, Jurisdiction, Judicial Review, Scope of Review, Administrative Law, Reviewability, Governments, Legislation, Interpretation