Judicial review of administrative immigration decisions: can the doctrine of “ejusdem generis” save it from extinction?
Until recently, immigration lawyers took for granted federal court jurisdiction to review denials of applications for work visas and other immigration benefits. Historically, judicial review has served as an important check on the government’s power to control the entry, presence, and work authorization of aliens in the United States. Without judicial review, unlimited discretion over the fates of millions of aliens would be vested in the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS), which recently assumed the benefits adjudications duties of the now dissolved Immigration and Naturalization Service. (1) During the past few years, a line of federal court decisions has called into question the power of federal courts to review BCIS-type immigration adjudications. The problem stems from a jurisdiction-limiting provision enacted by Congress in the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA). (2) The provision appears in the midst of a group of stat
