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By Mandy Taheri
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The Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Tuesday that the Department of Justice (DOJ) cannot unilaterally revoke a green card, calling the government's approach "antithetical" to the separation of powers and a violation of Congress' authority in a case pertaining to a lawful permanent resident.
A DOJ spokesperson declined to comment when contacted by Newsweek on Wednesday. Newsweek has contacted the petitioner's counsel for comment via email.
Why It Matters
The court's decision pushes back on the Trump administration's desire to be able to reconsider and potentially revoke an individual's lawful permanent residency, which could have sweeping implications for millions of permanent residents.
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President Donald Trump has pledged to launch the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history, and immigrants residing in the country illegally and legally, with valid documentation such as green cards and visas, have been detained. Newsweek has reported dozens of cases involving green-card holders and applicants who were swept up in the immigration raids and various arrests.
A Customs and Border Protection warning published on July 9 said, "Possessing a green card is a privilege, not a right." It added that legal residents arriving at a port of entry with prior criminal convictions may be detained in advance of removal proceeding.
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What To Know
In a Tuesday ruling, a court said the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), which is part of the DOJ's Executive Office for Immigration Review, lacked the authority to unilaterally revoke the legal permanent status of Mohammad Qatanani, a longtime New Jersey imam.
Qatanani, who is Palestinian, has spent more than two decades seeking permanent residency in the United States.
In 1996, he was admitted to the U.S. on a work visa, and three years later he applied to adjust his status to a lawful permanent resident. However, federal officials cited alleged ties to Hamas, allegations that Qatanani has denied.
"An Immigration Judge twice made fact findings and credibility determinations in Qatanani's favor and granted his application to adjust to LPR status. The IJ issued those orders in 2008 and 2020, respectively," the case said.
However, the 2008 order never became final because the Department of Homeland Security appealed, and the BIA vacated it. Although DHS did not appeal the second ruling within the required 30 days, the BIA later ordered Qatanani's removal, a decision he appealed.
Tuesday's opinion, written by Circuit Judge Arianna Freeman, a Biden appointee, said, "The BIA exceeded its authority when it attempted to undo Qatanani's adjustment to LPR status by using an agency regulation in a manner inconsistent with the procedures set out by Congress in the [Immigration and Nationality Act]," adding that it came long after the 30-day period.
Freeman continued, "Accordingly, we granted Qatanani's petition for review and vacated the BIA's order," thereby asserting that the immigration judge's 2020 order granting Qatanani permanent residency was upheld.
Later in the opinion, she wrote: "The implications of this [the Justice Department's] argument are extraordinary. Under this reading of agency authority, the government has carte blanche to evade the limits Congress imposed on the Executive's discretionary authority over adjustments to LPR status and to circumvent the procedures Congress mandated for recission of such adjustments."
Freeman continued: "The government's position is antithetical to 'the basic concept of separation of powers.' … We therefore reject it."
Judge Paul Matey, whom Trump appointed to the court, wrote in his dissent, "For more than a quarter century, five Presidents and 10 Attorneys General have objected to Mohammad Qatanani's presence in our Nation."
He concluded, "Seeing no constitutional claim or legal question that warrants granting the petition, and mindful we lack jurisdiction to review the Executive's discretionary decision not to grant Qatanani a status adjustment, I would deny the petition and so respectfully dissent."
What People Are Saying
Amelia Wilson, an assistant professor of law and the director of the Immigration Justice Clinic at Pace University, told Newsweek: "Under Trump, the Department of Justice has repeatedly sought to usurp Congressional lawmaking authority, rewrite the Constitution, and upset the balance of power. The judiciary's duty is to safeguard the people against such abusive government conduct and Executive overreach. The Third Circuit did just that yesterday by guaranteeing that, at least for now, the Department must observe the basic mandates of due process."
Bradford Bernstein, a managing partner at Spar Bernstein, previously told Newsweek: "In this case, the government is arguing that it can revoke a green card years or even decades after it was granted, based solely on a claim that an immigration judge did not complete all the administrative steps required to finalize the grant of permanent residency. The immigrant involved was granted a green card by a judge, and the government failed to appeal within the standard 30-day window. Under well-established legal principles, that decision should be considered final. Yet the government now claims that because of a procedural oversight by the judge or the immigration service, it can still rescind the green card long after the fact."
Customs and Border Protection wrote on X on July 8: "Having a criminal history does not make you an upstanding lawful permanent resident. Possessing a green card is a privilege, not a right. Under our nation's laws, our government has the authority to revoke your green card if our laws are broken and abused. In addition to immigration removal proceedings, lawful permanent residents presenting at a U.S. port of entry with previous criminal convictions may be subject to mandatory detention."
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services wrote on X on May 5: "Green cards and visas will be revoked if an alien breaks the law, supports terrorism, overstays their permitted visit time, performs illegal work, or anything else that violates the terms on which we granted them this privilege or compromises the safety of our fellow Americans."
What Happens Next
The BIA's order has been vacated against Qatanani and maintains that he is a lawful permanent resident.
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