Patel v. Garland

Pankajkumar Patel entered the United States illegally in February 1992. In August 2007, he applied for adjustment of status to receive a green card. In December 2008, Patel sought to renew his Georgia driver's license and checked a box on the application specifying that he was a United States citizen. An immigration judge later denied his application for adjustment of status on that basis, and the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirmed. Patel asserted that because he would be eligible for a driver's license regardless of his citizenship status, his mistake on the form should not matter when it comes to his immigration application. He subsequently petitioned the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit for review of the BIA's decision, but a panel of the court held it lacked jurisdiction to consider the claim. Both Patel and the government disagreed with this reading of the jurisdiction-stripping provision of the immigration code, 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(B), which provides that courts have no jurisdiction to review “any judgment regarding the granting of relief” under 8 U.S.C. § 1255 (adjustment of status).

The Eleventh Circuit granted rehearing en banc, and again reached the same outcome, this time in an 11–4 vote. Patel filed a petition for a writ of certiorari.{{Cite web|last=Howe|first=Amy|date=June 28, 2021|title=Justices won't intervene in dispute over transgender rights and bathrooms|url=https://www.scotusblog.com/2021/06/justices-wont-intervene-in-dispute-over-transgender-rights-and-bathrooms/|access-date=May 23, 2022|website=SCOTUSblog|archive-url=|archive-date=}}

Certiorari was granted in the case on June 28, 2021. As both Patel and the government disagreed with the Eleventh Circuit's decision, the court appointed Taylor Meehan of Consovoy McCarthy to defend the judgment below. Oral arguments were held on December 6, 2021. On May 16, 2022, the Supreme Court affirmed the Eleventh Circuit in a 5–4 decision, with Justice Amy Coney Barrett writing the majority and Justice Neil Gorsuch writing the dissent.

The Court held that the term “judgment” in 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(B)(i) refers to any authoritative decision relating to the granting or denying of discretionary relief, such as adjustment of status, which is up to the discretion of immigration authorities. The Court noted that Congress chose to give reduced procedural protections for discretionary relief.{{Cite web |last=Hasan |first=Zayn |date=2022-06-02 |title=Supreme Court Report: Patel v. Garland, 20-979 |url=https://www.naag.org/attorney-general-journal/supreme-court-report-patel-v-garland-20-979/ |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=National Association of Attorneys General |language=en-US}}{{Cite journal |title=Patel v. Garland |url=https://harvardlawreview.org/print/vol-136/patel-v-garland/ |journal=Harvard Law Review |volume=136 |issue=November 2022 |pages=420}}

Scholars have raised concerns about due process and broader flaws in the immigration system highlighted by the case, in which Patel, who had lived in the United States for nearly 30 years, faced deportation without judicial review simply for checking the wrong box on a driver’s license application.{{Cite web |last=Wadhia |first=Shoba Sivaprasad |date=2022-05-19 |title=Justices split over question of federal court review in immigration cases |url=https://www.scotusblog.com/2022/05/justices-split-over-question-of-federal-court-review-in-immigration-cases/ |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=SCOTUSblog}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{caselaw source

| case = Patel v. Garland, {{ussc|596|328|2022|el=no}}

| justia = https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/596/20-979/

| oyez = https://www.oyez.org/cases/2021/20-979

| other_source1 = Supreme Court (slip opinion)

| other_url1 = https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/20-979_h3ci.pdf

}}

Category:2022 in United States case law

Category:United States Supreme Court cases

Category:United States Supreme Court cases of the Roberts Court

Category:United States immigration and naturalization case law

Category:Indian-American history

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