The Third Circuit has determined that the jurisdiction-stripping provision of the INA operates as an unconstitutional suspension of the writ of habeas corpus as applied to Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) designees seeking judicial review of orders of expedited removal.  "Because SIJ status reflects Petitioners’ significant ties to this country and Congress’s determination that such aliens should be accorded important statutory and procedural protections, Petitioners are entitled to invoke the Suspension Clause and petition the federal courts for a writ of habeas corpus. We further conclude that because the expedited removal regime does not provide an adequate substitute process, the INA’s jurisdiction-stripping provisions effect an unconstitutional suspension of the writ as applied to Petitioners."

The court recognized that SIJ designees enjoy certain statutory rights.  "Yet revocation of these statutory rights without cause, notice, or judicial review is precisely the consequence of expedited removal. Despite their SIJ classification, the children, once removed, would be unable to adjust status because doing so requires physical presence within the United States, and further, they would be barred from reentry for at least five years. Moreover, Petitioners’ expedited removal would be based on a ground for inadmissibility—lack of valid immigration documentation—from which Petitioners are expressly exempted by virtue of their SIJ status. In short, expedited removal would render SIJ status a nullity."

The full text of Osorio-Martinez v. Attorney General can be found here:

http://www2.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/172159p.pdf

Comment