Mehta & Isaacson: Hidden Silver Linings in Cuellar de Osorio?

"Cuellar de Osorio does contain some seeds of hope for better outcomes in the future. ... [A] majority of the Court agrees that the meaning of §1153(h)(3) is an ambiguity subject to Chevron deference, rather than suggesting, as the Second Circuit had done in Li v. Renaud, that a narrow reading of §1153(h)(3) is compelled by the statute.  When a statute is ambiguous in this way, the Supreme Court has made clear in National Cable & Telecommunications Assn. v. Brand X Internet Services, 545 U.S. 967 (2005), the agency may reconsider its interpretation even after the courts have approved of it.  Thus, the Court’s description of §1153(h)(3) as an ambiguous statute subject to Chevron deference to the BIA’s interpretation implies that the BIA could, even after Cuellar de Osorio, reverse its position in Matter of Wang.  So too could the Attorney General, on whose behalf the BIA ultimately acts, go against Matter of Wang and adopt a broader interpretation of §1153(h)(3)." - Cyrus D. Mehta and David A. Isaacson, June 10, 2014.