Illegal immigrants have only limited grounds to appeal deportation orders to the federal courts, the Supreme Court ruled Monday in a decision in which conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch led the dissent, joined by his three Democrat-appointed colleagues, the Washington Examiner reported on Monday.
The 5-4 decision makes it more difficult for those involved in deportation proceedings to get a federal court to review factual determinations that were made by an immigration court about the procedure.
The ruling, however, does not affect the ability of courts to weigh in on cases involving matters of law.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote in the majority opinion that the wording Congress used in the law governing relief from deportation prohibits court "review of any judgment regarding the granting of relief. This plainly includes factual findings."
The case before the justices involved Pankajkumar Patel, an illegal immigrant who has been in the U.S. for almost 30 years, according to the Examiner. When he tried to legalize his status about 15 years ago he falsely checked on a driver's license application in Georgia that he was an American citizen.
His case was denied, and the government moved to deport him, with an immigration judge deciding that the application was not an innocent mistake but a pattern of misrepresentation by Patel.
Patel said that was a serious error in fact-finding, and that federal courts should be allowed to review such instances.
Gorsuch wrote in his dissent that "today, the court holds that a federal bureaucracy can make an obvious factual error, one that will result in an individual's removal from this county, and nothing can be done about it," CNN reported.
He emphasized that the decision will have "dire consequences for countless lawful immigrants" and stated that every year "thousands" of individuals try to obtain a green card" such as students who hope to remain in the U.S., and skilled workers sponsored by an employee.
"On the majority's telling, courts are powerless to correct bureaucratic mistakes like these no matter how grave they may be," he said.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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