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"para_311", "para_312", "para_313", "para_314", "para_315", "para_316", "para_317", "para_318" ], "kind": "summary" } ], "paragraphs": [ { "text": "FOR PUBLICATION", "paragraph_id": "para_1" }, { "text": "UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS", "paragraph_id": "para_2" }, { "text": "FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT", "paragraph_id": "para_3" }, { "text": "SUKESH CHANDRA BARMAN,", "paragraph_id": "para_4" }, { "text": "Plaintiff - Appellant,", "paragraph_id": "para_5" }, { "text": "v.", "paragraph_id": "para_6" }, { "text": "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA;", "paragraph_id": "para_7" }, { "text": "REBECCA MALIUWELUR,", "paragraph_id": "para_8" }, { "text": "Defendants - Appellees.", "paragraph_id": "para_9" }, { "text": "No. 24-464", "paragraph_id": "para_10" }, { "text": "D.C. No.", "paragraph_id": "para_11" }, { "text": "1:23-cv-00010", "paragraph_id": "para_12" }, { "text": "OPINION", "paragraph_id": "para_13" }, { "text": "Appeal from the District of the Northern Mariana Islands", "paragraph_id": "para_14" }, { "text": "Ramona V. Manglona, Chief District Judge, Presiding", "paragraph_id": "para_15" }, { "text": "Argued and Submitted June 22, 2026", "paragraph_id": "para_16" }, { "text": "Honolulu, Hawaii", "paragraph_id": "para_17" }, { "text": "Filed September 14, 2026", "paragraph_id": "para_18" }, { "text": "Before: N. Randy Smith, Eric D. Miller; and Anthony D.", "paragraph_id": "para_19" }, { "text": "Johnstone, Circuit Judges.", "paragraph_id": "para_20" }, { "text": "Opinion by Judge Miller", "paragraph_id": "para_21" }, { "text": "2 BARMAN V. USA", "paragraph_id": "para_22" }, { "text": "SUMMARY*", "paragraph_id": "para_23" }, { "text": "Immigration", "paragraph_id": "para_24" }, { "text": "Affirming the district court’s dismissal for lack of", "paragraph_id": "para_25" }, { "text": "subject-matter jurisdiction of Sukesh Barman’s challenge to", "paragraph_id": "para_26" }, { "text": "a decision of United States Citizenship and Immigration", "paragraph_id": "para_27" }, { "text": "Services (USCIS) denying his application for a special", "paragraph_id": "para_28" }, { "text": "immigration status for certain long-term residents of the", "paragraph_id": "para_29" }, { "text": "Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (NM-1", "paragraph_id": "para_30" }, { "text": "status), the panel held that 48 U.S.C. § 1806(e)(6)(D) bars", "paragraph_id": "para_31" }, { "text": "judicial review of USCIS’s denials of such status.", "paragraph_id": "para_32" }, { "text": "Section 1806(e)(6)(D) bars review of “any decision of", "paragraph_id": "para_33" }, { "text": "the Secretary of Homeland Security” on an application for", "paragraph_id": "para_34" }, { "text": "NM-1 status and was enacted as part of the Northern", "paragraph_id": "para_35" }, { "text": "Mariana Islands Long-Term Legal Residents Relief Act,", "paragraph_id": "para_36" }, { "text": "Pub. L. No. 116-24, 113 Stat. 977 (2019).", "paragraph_id": "para_37" }, { "text": "Barman argued that § 1806(e)(6)(D) precludes judicial", "paragraph_id": "para_38" }, { "text": "review of decisions made by the Secretary personally, not of", "paragraph_id": "para_39" }, { "text": "decisions made by USCIS. The panel disagreed. If, as", "paragraph_id": "para_40" }, { "text": "Barman conceded, a decision by USCIS is a decision of the", "paragraph_id": "para_41" }, { "text": "Secretary for purposes of the provision that confers authority", "paragraph_id": "para_42" }, { "text": "on the Secretary to adjudicate NM-1 applications, then it", "paragraph_id": "para_43" }, { "text": "follows that a decision by USCIS must also be a decision of", "paragraph_id": "para_44" }, { "text": "the Secretary for purposes of the judicial review provision.", "paragraph_id": "para_45" }, { "text": "The panel concluded that its interpretation was", "paragraph_id": "para_46" }, { "text": "reinforced by the legal context in which the Relief Act was", "paragraph_id": "para_47" }, { "text": "passed: Congress would have understood it was barring", "paragraph_id": "para_48" }, { "text": "* This summary constitutes no part of the opinion of the court. It has", "paragraph_id": "para_49" }, { "text": "been prepared by court staff for the convenience of the reader.", "paragraph_id": "para_50" }, { "text": "BARMAN V. USA 3", "paragraph_id": "para_51" }, { "text": "review of decisions that the Secretary had long", "paragraph_id": "para_52" }, { "text": "delegated. Case law involving a similar jurisdiction-", "paragraph_id": "para_53" }, { "text": "stripping provision, 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii), also", "paragraph_id": "para_54" }, { "text": "supported its conclusion. The Supreme Court and twelve", "paragraph_id": "para_55" }, { "text": "courts of appeals assumed that a judicial-review bar that", "paragraph_id": "para_56" }, { "text": "names only an agency head extends to the decisions of his", "paragraph_id": "para_57" }, { "text": "delegates. Finally, the panel rejected Barman’s invocation", "paragraph_id": "para_58" }, { "text": "of the presumption in favor of reviewability of agency action", "paragraph_id": "para_59" }, { "text": "because the statute is clear.", "paragraph_id": "para_60" }, { "text": "COUNSEL", "paragraph_id": "para_61" }, { "text": "Joseph E. Horey (argued), Banes Horey Nie & Miller LLC,", "paragraph_id": "para_62" }, { "text": "Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, for Plaintiff-Appellant.", "paragraph_id": "para_63" }, { "text": "Ian S. Lam (argued), Trial Attorney; Samuel P. Go, Assistant", "paragraph_id": "para_64" }, { "text": "Director, Office of Immigration Litigation; Brett A.", "paragraph_id": "para_65" }, { "text": "Shumate, Assistant Attorney General; Civil Division, United", "paragraph_id": "para_66" }, { "text": "States Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.; Jessica", "paragraph_id": "para_67" }, { "text": "Friday Cruz, Assistant United States Attorney, Office of the", "paragraph_id": "para_68" }, { "text": "United States Attorney, United States Department of Justice,", "paragraph_id": "para_69" }, { "text": "Hagatna, Guam; for Defendants-Appellees.", "paragraph_id": "para_70" }, { "text": "4 BARMAN V. USA", "paragraph_id": "para_71" }, { "text": "OPINION", "paragraph_id": "para_72" }, { "text": "MILLER, Circuit Judge:", "paragraph_id": "para_73" }, { "text": "The Northern Mariana Islands Long-Term Legal", "paragraph_id": "para_74" }, { "text": "Residents Relief Act, Pub. L. No. 116-24, 113 Stat. 977", "paragraph_id": "para_75" }, { "text": "(2019), created a special immigration status for certain long-", "paragraph_id": "para_76" }, { "text": "term residents of the Commonwealth of the Northern", "paragraph_id": "para_77" }, { "text": "Mariana Islands. The Relief Act authorizes the Secretary of", "paragraph_id": "para_78" }, { "text": "Homeland Security and the Attorney General to adjudicate", "paragraph_id": "para_79" }, { "text": "applications for adjustment to that status, and it contains a", "paragraph_id": "para_80" }, { "text": "jurisdiction-stripping provision that precludes judicial", "paragraph_id": "para_81" }, { "text": "review of “any decision of the Secretary of Homeland", "paragraph_id": "para_82" }, { "text": "Security or the Attorney General on an application” for that", "paragraph_id": "para_83" }, { "text": "status. 48 U.S.C. § 1806(e)(6)(D). The question presented is", "paragraph_id": "para_84" }, { "text": "whether that provision bars judicial review of denials made", "paragraph_id": "para_85" }, { "text": "by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services", "paragraph_id": "para_86" }, { "text": "(USCIS) in the exercise of authority delegated to it by the", "paragraph_id": "para_87" }, { "text": "Secretary. We conclude that it does, so we affirm the district", "paragraph_id": "para_88" }, { "text": "court’s dismissal of this case for lack of subject-matter", "paragraph_id": "para_89" }, { "text": "jurisdiction.", "paragraph_id": "para_90" }, { "text": "In 1976, Congress approved the Covenant to Establish a", "paragraph_id": "para_91" }, { "text": "Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Political", "paragraph_id": "para_92" }, { "text": "Union with the United States of America. Pub. L. No. 94-", "paragraph_id": "para_93" }, { "text": "241, § 1, 90 Stat. 263 (codified at 48 U.S.C. § 1801); see", "paragraph_id": "para_94" }, { "text": "Eche v. Holder, 694 F.3d 1026, 1027 (9th Cir. 2012). Under", "paragraph_id": "para_95" }, { "text": "the Covenant, citizens of the Northern Mariana Islands", "paragraph_id": "para_96" }, { "text": "became citizens of the United States, but the", "paragraph_id": "para_97" }, { "text": "Commonwealth’s government “retained nearly exclusive", "paragraph_id": "para_98" }, { "text": "control over immigration to the territory.” Eche, 694 F.3d at", "paragraph_id": "para_99" }, { "text": "1027 (citing Covenant § 503(a), 90 Stat. at 268).", "paragraph_id": "para_100" }, { "text": "During the following decades, the Commonwealth’s", "paragraph_id": "para_101" }, { "text": "government “permitted large numbers of temporary ‘guest", "paragraph_id": "para_102" }, { "text": "BARMAN V. USA 5", "paragraph_id": "para_103" }, { "text": "workers’ to work in the island territory, primarily in the", "paragraph_id": "para_104" }, { "text": "garment sector and other private industries.” Torres v. Barr,", "paragraph_id": "para_105" }, { "text": "976 F.3d 918, 921 (9th Cir. 2020) (en banc) (quoting S. Rep.", "paragraph_id": "para_106" }, { "text": "No. 110-324, at 4 (2008)). Those workers “lacked any U.S.", "paragraph_id": "para_107" }, { "text": "immigration status,” and “Congress grew increasingly", "paragraph_id": "para_108" }, { "text": "concerned by what it saw as the ‘ineffective border", "paragraph_id": "para_109" }, { "text": "control[s]’ of the territory.” Id. (brackets in original)", "paragraph_id": "para_110" }, { "text": "(quoting S. Rep. No. 110-324, at 3).", "paragraph_id": "para_111" }, { "text": "In 2009, Congress made federal immigration law", "paragraph_id": "para_112" }, { "text": "applicable to the Northern Mariana Islands. Consolidated", "paragraph_id": "para_113" }, { "text": "Natural Resources Act of 2008, Pub. L. No. 110-229, § 702,", "paragraph_id": "para_114" }, { "text": "122 Stat. 754, 854 (codified at 48 U.S.C. § 1806(a)(1)); see", "paragraph_id": "para_115" }, { "text": "id. § 705, 122 Stat. at 867 (effective date); Eche, 694 F.3d at", "paragraph_id": "para_116" }, { "text": "1027. Under federal immigration law, temporary guest", "paragraph_id": "para_117" }, { "text": "workers present without lawful status were subject to", "paragraph_id": "para_118" }, { "text": "removal. See 8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(6)(A); Torres, 976 F.3d at", "paragraph_id": "para_119" }, { "text": "922. Following that change, many Northern Mariana Islands", "paragraph_id": "para_120" }, { "text": "residents “were granted humanitarian parole that allowed", "paragraph_id": "para_121" }, { "text": "them to stay.” 165 Cong. Rec. H4202 (daily ed. June 3,", "paragraph_id": "para_122" }, { "text": "2019) (statement of Del. Gregorio Sablan); see 8 U.S.C.", "paragraph_id": "para_123" }, { "text": "§ 1182(d)(5)(A); In re Valdez, 25 I. & N. Dec. 824, 826 n.1", "paragraph_id": "para_124" }, { "text": "(B.I.A. 2012); U.S. Citizenship & Immigr. Servs., USCIS", "paragraph_id": "para_125" }, { "text": "Announces Extension of Parole for Immediate Relatives of", "paragraph_id": "para_126" }, { "text": "U.S. Citizens (Dec. 13, 2016), https://perma.cc/SX46-", "paragraph_id": "para_127" }, { "text": "PUU8. But that parole eventually expired. See Exec. Order", "paragraph_id": "para_128" }, { "text": "No. 13767, § 11(d), 82 Fed. Reg. 8793, 8796 (Jan. 30, 2017);", "paragraph_id": "para_129" }, { "text": "U.S. Citizenship & Immigr. Servs., Termination of the", "paragraph_id": "para_130" }, { "text": "Categorical Parole Programs for Certain Individuals Present", "paragraph_id": "para_131" }, { "text": "in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands", "paragraph_id": "para_132" }, { "text": "(CNMI) (Dec. 27, 2018), https://perma.cc/HWY8-YGTU.", "paragraph_id": "para_133" }, { "text": "As the end of parole left many long-term residents with", "paragraph_id": "para_134" }, { "text": "no lawful status, Congress enacted the Relief Act, which", "paragraph_id": "para_135" }, { "text": "amended 48 U.S.C. § 1806 and created a new “NM-1”", "paragraph_id": "para_136" }, { "text": "6 BARMAN V. USA", "paragraph_id": "para_137" }, { "text": "immigration status that authorizes qualifying individuals to", "paragraph_id": "para_138" }, { "text": "live and work in the Northern Mariana Islands. The Relief", "paragraph_id": "para_139" }, { "text": "Act outlines the eligibility requirements for NM-1 status,", "paragraph_id": "para_140" }, { "text": "directs the Secretary to create an application process, and", "paragraph_id": "para_141" }, { "text": "authorizes the Secretary and the Attorney General to", "paragraph_id": "para_142" }, { "text": "adjudicate NM-1 adjustment-of-status applications. See 48", "paragraph_id": "para_143" }, { "text": "U.S.C. § 1806(e)(6)(A)–(C). The Relief Act also contains a", "paragraph_id": "para_144" }, { "text": "jurisdiction-stripping provision, which states:", "paragraph_id": "para_145" }, { "text": "Notwithstanding any other law, no court shall", "paragraph_id": "para_146" }, { "text": "have jurisdiction to review any decision of", "paragraph_id": "para_147" }, { "text": "the Secretary of Homeland Security or the", "paragraph_id": "para_148" }, { "text": "Attorney General on an application under this", "paragraph_id": "para_149" }, { "text": "paragraph or any other action or", "paragraph_id": "para_150" }, { "text": "determination of the Secretary of Homeland", "paragraph_id": "para_151" }, { "text": "Security or the Attorney General to", "paragraph_id": "para_152" }, { "text": "implement, administer, or enforce this", "paragraph_id": "para_153" }, { "text": "paragraph.", "paragraph_id": "para_154" }, { "text": "Id. § 1806(e)(6)(D).", "paragraph_id": "para_155" }, { "text": "The Relief Act does not contain an express delegation", "paragraph_id": "para_156" }, { "text": "provision, but 6 U.S.C. § 112(b)(1) authorizes the Secretary", "paragraph_id": "para_157" }, { "text": "to “delegate any of [his] functions to any officer, employee,", "paragraph_id": "para_158" }, { "text": "or organizational unit of the Department [of Homeland", "paragraph_id": "para_159" }, { "text": "Security].” And we have recognized that “[w]hen a statute", "paragraph_id": "para_160" }, { "text": "delegates authority to a federal officer or agency,", "paragraph_id": "para_161" }, { "text": "subdelegation to a subordinate federal officer or agency is", "paragraph_id": "para_162" }, { "text": "presumptively permissible.” Frankl v. HTH Corp., 650 F.3d", "paragraph_id": "para_163" }, { "text": "1334, 1350 (9th Cir. 2011) (quoting United States Telecom", "paragraph_id": "para_164" }, { "text": "Ass’n v. FCC, 359 F.3d 554, 565 (D.C. Cir. 2004)); see", "paragraph_id": "para_165" }, { "text": "Gonzales & Gonzales Bonds & Ins. Agency, Inc. v. United", "paragraph_id": "para_166" }, { "text": "States Dep’t of Homeland Sec., 107 F.4th 1064, 1076 (9th", "paragraph_id": "para_167" }, { "text": "Cir. 2024). In 2003, the Secretary delegated to USCIS (then", "paragraph_id": "para_168" }, { "text": "BARMAN V. USA 7", "paragraph_id": "para_169" }, { "text": "named the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services)", "paragraph_id": "para_170" }, { "text": "the authority to “accept, process and adjudicate any", "paragraph_id": "para_171" }, { "text": "application for any immigration benefit or service,” with", "paragraph_id": "para_172" }, { "text": "several exceptions not relevant here. See Dep’t of Homeland", "paragraph_id": "para_173" }, { "text": "Sec., Delegation No. 0150.1, § II(BB) (June 5, 2003).", "paragraph_id": "para_174" }, { "text": "In 2020, Sukesh Barman applied to USCIS for NM-1", "paragraph_id": "para_175" }, { "text": "status. The director of USCIS’s Guam Field Office denied", "paragraph_id": "para_176" }, { "text": "his application, determining that Barman had not “resided", "paragraph_id": "para_177" }, { "text": "continuously and lawfully in the Commonwealth from", "paragraph_id": "para_178" }, { "text": "November 28, 2009, through June 25, 2019,” as required by", "paragraph_id": "para_179" }, { "text": "the Relief Act. 48 U.S.C. § 1806(e)(6)(B)(iii). Barman", "paragraph_id": "para_180" }, { "text": "sought administrative reconsideration, which was denied.", "paragraph_id": "para_181" }, { "text": "Barman then challenged the denial in federal district court,", "paragraph_id": "para_182" }, { "text": "seeking a “declaration that his application for NM-1 status", "paragraph_id": "para_183" }, { "text": "met all the statutory criteria of eligibility” and a “mandatory", "paragraph_id": "para_184" }, { "text": "injunction requiring [USCIS] to approve his application.”", "paragraph_id": "para_185" }, { "text": "The government moved to dismiss, arguing that the Relief", "paragraph_id": "para_186" }, { "text": "Act’s jurisdiction-stripping provision barred review of the", "paragraph_id": "para_187" }, { "text": "denial. The district court agreed and granted the motion to", "paragraph_id": "para_188" }, { "text": "dismiss. Barman now appeals. We review de novo a", "paragraph_id": "para_189" }, { "text": "dismissal for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. Flaa v.", "paragraph_id": "para_190" }, { "text": "Hollywood Foreign Press Ass’n, 55 F.4th 680, 687 (9th Cir.", "paragraph_id": "para_191" }, { "text": "2022).", "paragraph_id": "para_192" }, { "text": "Barman raises only one issue on appeal. He", "paragraph_id": "para_193" }, { "text": "acknowledges that section 1806(e)(6)(D) provides that “no", "paragraph_id": "para_194" }, { "text": "court shall have jurisdiction to review any decision of the", "paragraph_id": "para_195" }, { "text": "Secretary of Homeland Security . . . on an application” for", "paragraph_id": "para_196" }, { "text": "NM-1 status. But, he says, the statute precludes judicial", "paragraph_id": "para_197" }, { "text": "review only of decisions made by the Secretary personally,", "paragraph_id": "para_198" }, { "text": "not of decisions made by USCIS in the exercise of the", "paragraph_id": "para_199" }, { "text": "Secretary’s delegated authority. We disagree.", "paragraph_id": "para_200" }, { "text": "8 BARMAN V. USA", "paragraph_id": "para_201" }, { "text": "Barman concedes, as he must, that the Relief Act permits", "paragraph_id": "para_202" }, { "text": "the Secretary to delegate to USCIS the authority to", "paragraph_id": "para_203" }, { "text": "adjudicate applications for NM-1 status. See Frankl, 650", "paragraph_id": "para_204" }, { "text": "F.3d at 1350; 6 U.S.C. § 112(b)(1). Barman also concedes", "paragraph_id": "para_205" }, { "text": "that the Secretary’s prior order validly delegated his NM-1", "paragraph_id": "para_206" }, { "text": "adjudicatory authority to USCIS.", "paragraph_id": "para_207" }, { "text": "Those concessions resolve this case. It is a basic", "paragraph_id": "para_208" }, { "text": "principle of administrative law that a decision made by a", "paragraph_id": "para_209" }, { "text": "delegate is, functionally, a decision made by the delegator.", "paragraph_id": "para_210" }, { "text": "See United States Telecom Ass’n, 359 F.3d at 565 (“When", "paragraph_id": "para_211" }, { "text": "an agency delegates authority to its subordinate,", "paragraph_id": "para_212" }, { "text": "responsibility—and thus accountability—clearly remain", "paragraph_id": "para_213" }, { "text": "with the federal agency.”). Section 1806(e)(6) authorizes", "paragraph_id": "para_214" }, { "text": "two officials to adjudicate NM-1 applications—the", "paragraph_id": "para_215" }, { "text": "Secretary and the Attorney General—and it prohibits", "paragraph_id": "para_216" }, { "text": "judicial review of decisions made by those officials. If, as", "paragraph_id": "para_217" }, { "text": "Barman recognizes, a decision by USCIS is a decision of the", "paragraph_id": "para_218" }, { "text": "Secretary for purposes of the provision that confers authority", "paragraph_id": "para_219" }, { "text": "on the Secretary, then it follows that a decision by USCIS", "paragraph_id": "para_220" }, { "text": "must also be a decision of the Secretary for purposes of the", "paragraph_id": "para_221" }, { "text": "provision that bars judicial review. Because a decision of", "paragraph_id": "para_222" }, { "text": "USCIS is a “decision of the Secretary of Homeland", "paragraph_id": "para_223" }, { "text": "Security,” it is covered by section 1806(e)(6)(D).", "paragraph_id": "para_224" }, { "text": "Our interpretation is reinforced by considering the legal", "paragraph_id": "para_225" }, { "text": "context in which the Relief Act was passed. Years earlier,", "paragraph_id": "para_226" }, { "text": "the Secretary had delegated his authority to adjudicate “any", "paragraph_id": "para_227" }, { "text": "application for any immigration benefit or service” to", "paragraph_id": "para_228" }, { "text": "USCIS. Dep’t of Homeland Sec., Delegation No. 0150.1,", "paragraph_id": "para_229" }, { "text": "§ II(BB) (2003). “Congress legislates against the backdrop", "paragraph_id": "para_230" }, { "text": "of existing law,” Parker Drilling Mgmt. Servs., Ltd. v.", "paragraph_id": "para_231" }, { "text": "Newton, 587 U.S. 601, 611 (2019) (quoting McQuiggin v.", "paragraph_id": "para_232" }, { "text": "Perkins, 569 U.S. 383, 398 n.3 (2013)), so in enacting", "paragraph_id": "para_233" }, { "text": "section 1806(e)(6)(D)’s jurisdiction-stripping provision,", "paragraph_id": "para_234" }, { "text": "BARMAN V. USA 9", "paragraph_id": "para_235" }, { "text": "Congress would have understood that it was barring review", "paragraph_id": "para_236" }, { "text": "of decisions that the Secretary had long delegated.", "paragraph_id": "para_237" }, { "text": "Case law involving a similar jurisdiction-stripping", "paragraph_id": "para_238" }, { "text": "provision further supports our conclusion. As relevant here,", "paragraph_id": "para_239" }, { "text": "8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii) precludes judicial review of", "paragraph_id": "para_240" }, { "text": "“any . . . decision or action of the Attorney General or the", "paragraph_id": "para_241" }, { "text": "Secretary of Homeland Security the authority for which is", "paragraph_id": "para_242" }, { "text": "specified under this subchapter to be in [their] discretion.”", "paragraph_id": "para_243" }, { "text": "Like section 1806(e)(6)(D), that provision refers only to the", "paragraph_id": "para_244" }, { "text": "Attorney General and the Secretary and does not expressly", "paragraph_id": "para_245" }, { "text": "address decisions made by their delegates. But in Poursina", "paragraph_id": "para_246" }, { "text": "v. USCIS, we applied the statute to bar review of USCIS’s", "paragraph_id": "para_247" }, { "text": "decision not to issue a visa applicant a “national-interest", "paragraph_id": "para_248" }, { "text": "waiver” of his inadmissibility. 936 F.3d 868, 875 (9th Cir.", "paragraph_id": "para_249" }, { "text": "2019). By statute, the authority to issue such a waiver is", "paragraph_id": "para_250" }, { "text": "vested in the Secretary. 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(2)(B)(i); see 6", "paragraph_id": "para_251" }, { "text": "U.S.C. § 557. After determining that the decision to issue a", "paragraph_id": "para_252" }, { "text": "waiver was discretionary, we held that", "paragraph_id": "para_253" }, { "text": "section 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii)—which, to repeat, refers only to a", "paragraph_id": "para_254" }, { "text": "“decision or action of the Attorney General or the", "paragraph_id": "para_255" }, { "text": "Secretary”—“strips federal courts of jurisdiction to review", "paragraph_id": "para_256" }, { "text": "USCIS’s decision to deny a national-interest waiver to", "paragraph_id": "para_257" }, { "text": "Poursina.” Id. at 873 (emphasis added).", "paragraph_id": "para_258" }, { "text": "The Supreme Court and every other court of appeals to", "paragraph_id": "para_259" }, { "text": "have considered the scope of section 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii)—that", "paragraph_id": "para_260" }, { "text": "is, every court of appeals but the Federal Circuit—have", "paragraph_id": "para_261" }, { "text": "likewise applied it to bar judicial review of decisions made", "paragraph_id": "para_262" }, { "text": "by USCIS or its statutory predecessors. See, e.g., Bouarfa v.", "paragraph_id": "para_263" }, { "text": "Mayorkas, 604 U.S. 6, 9, 19 (2024) (USCIS decision to", "paragraph_id": "para_264" }, { "text": "revoke prior approval of visa petition); Bernardo ex rel. M", "paragraph_id": "para_265" }, { "text": "& K Eng’g, Inc. v. Johnson, 814 F.3d 481, 483–84 (1st Cir.", "paragraph_id": "para_266" }, { "text": "2016) (same); Nouritajer v. Jaddou, 18 F.4th 85, 87, 89 (2d", "paragraph_id": "para_267" }, { "text": "Cir. 2021) (per curiam) (same); Geda v. Director, USCIS,", "paragraph_id": "para_268" }, { "text": "10 BARMAN V. USA", "paragraph_id": "para_269" }, { "text": "126 F.4th 835, 841, 847 (3d Cir. 2025) (USCIS decision to", "paragraph_id": "para_270" }, { "text": "place green-card application on hold); Polfliet v. Cuccinelli,", "paragraph_id": "para_271" }, { "text": "955 F.3d 377, 379, 384 (4th Cir. 2020) (USCIS decision to", "paragraph_id": "para_272" }, { "text": "revoke prior approval of visa petition); Ghanem v.", "paragraph_id": "para_273" }, { "text": "Upchurch, 481 F.3d 222, 223 (5th Cir. 2007) (same);", "paragraph_id": "para_274" }, { "text": "Mehanna v. USCIS, 677 F.3d 312, 313–14 (6th Cir. 2012)", "paragraph_id": "para_275" }, { "text": "(same); El-Khader v. Monica, 366 F.3d 562, 563 (7th Cir.", "paragraph_id": "para_276" }, { "text": "2004) (same); Abdelwahab v. Frazier, 578 F.3d 817, 821", "paragraph_id": "para_277" }, { "text": "(8th Cir. 2009) (same); Green v. Napolitano, 627 F.3d 1341,", "paragraph_id": "para_278" }, { "text": "1343–44 (10th Cir. 2010) (same); Brasil v. Sec’y, Dep’t of", "paragraph_id": "para_279" }, { "text": "Homeland Sec., 28 F.4th 1189, 1191 (11th Cir. 2022) (per", "paragraph_id": "para_280" }, { "text": "curiam) (USCIS decision to deny national-interest waiver);", "paragraph_id": "para_281" }, { "text": "iTech U.S., Inc. v. Renaud, 5 F.4th 59, 60, 62 (D.C. Cir.", "paragraph_id": "para_282" }, { "text": "2021) (USCIS decision to revoke prior approval of visa", "paragraph_id": "para_283" }, { "text": "petition).", "paragraph_id": "para_284" }, { "text": "Barman argues that those cases “focused entirely on", "paragraph_id": "para_285" }, { "text": "whether the decision at issue was ‘discretionary’” and did", "paragraph_id": "para_286" }, { "text": "not address the question directly analogous to the one raised", "paragraph_id": "para_287" }, { "text": "in this appeal: whether “a discretionary decision ‘exercised", "paragraph_id": "para_288" }, { "text": "through a designee’ still fell under ‘the discretionary-", "paragraph_id": "para_289" }, { "text": "decision bar.’” See, e.g., Polfliet, 955 F.3d at 379 n.2, 384", "paragraph_id": "para_290" }, { "text": "(noting that the Secretary delegated his discretionary", "paragraph_id": "para_291" }, { "text": "authority to USCIS and assuming without analysis that", "paragraph_id": "para_292" }, { "text": "delegated discretionary decisions are unreviewable). He is", "paragraph_id": "para_293" }, { "text": "correct, of course, that “unstated assumptions on non-", "paragraph_id": "para_294" }, { "text": "litigated issues are not precedential holdings binding future", "paragraph_id": "para_295" }, { "text": "decisions.” Sakamoto v. Duty Free Shoppers, Ltd., 764 F.2d", "paragraph_id": "para_296" }, { "text": "1285, 1288 (9th Cir. 1985). Even so, we find it significant", "paragraph_id": "para_297" }, { "text": "that the “unstated assumption” of the Supreme Court and", "paragraph_id": "para_298" }, { "text": "twelve courts of appeals—that a judicial-review bar that", "paragraph_id": "para_299" }, { "text": "names only the head of an agency extends to decisions made", "paragraph_id": "para_300" }, { "text": "by his delegates—is consistent with our conclusion in this", "paragraph_id": "para_301" }, { "text": "case.", "paragraph_id": "para_302" }, { "text": "BARMAN V. USA 11", "paragraph_id": "para_303" }, { "text": "Finally, Barman invokes the presumption of", "paragraph_id": "para_304" }, { "text": "reviewability of administrative action, which dictates that", "paragraph_id": "para_305" }, { "text": "“when a statutory provision ‘is reasonably susceptible to", "paragraph_id": "para_306" }, { "text": "divergent interpretation, we adopt the reading that accords", "paragraph_id": "para_307" }, { "text": "with traditional understandings and basic principles: that", "paragraph_id": "para_308" }, { "text": "executive determinations generally are subject to judicial", "paragraph_id": "para_309" }, { "text": "review.’” Guerrero-Lasprilla v. Barr, 589 U.S. 221, 229", "paragraph_id": "para_310" }, { "text": "(2020) (quoting Kucana v. Holder, 558 U.S. 233, 251", "paragraph_id": "para_311" }, { "text": "(2010)). But for the reasons we have already explained, the", "paragraph_id": "para_312" }, { "text": "statute is not reasonably susceptible to divergent", "paragraph_id": "para_313" }, { "text": "interpretation. “Because the statute is clear, we have no", "paragraph_id": "para_314" }, { "text": "reason to resort to the presumption of reviewability.” Patel", "paragraph_id": "para_315" }, { "text": "v. Garland, 596 U.S. 328, 347 (2022); see Mullin v. Doe, 146", "paragraph_id": "para_316" }, { "text": "S. 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