Latest Case: Rodriguez v. Barr (Immigration Law)

Obey the Law

LESLIE C. GRIFFIN

In light of a case currently on the U.S. Supreme Court’s docket for this term, UNLV Boyd School of Law professor Leslie C. Griffin explains the importance of requiring employers and others to obey generally applicable laws not targeting specific religious practices—the result of the Court’s holding in Employment Division v. Smith. Griffin argues that it is hard to imagine a peaceful United States if organizations had a constitutional or statutory right to discriminate against all types of people.

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Rodriguez v. Barr

Docket: 18-1531

Opinion Date: March 16, 2020

Judge: Beam

Areas of Law: Immigration Law

The Eighth Circuit denied petitions for review of the BIA's denial of petitioner's application for cancellation of removal (No. 18-1531) and denial of his motion to reopen and reconsider (No. 18-3164). The court affirmed the BIA's denial of petitioner's application for cancellation of removal, holding that the decision to grant cancellation of removal was a discretionary act by the Attorney General that this court may not review. Furthermore, petitioner had no right to due process in the purely discretionary remedy of cancellation of removal because no constitutionally cognizable liberty interest arose from it, and his claim that the actions of ICE violated his due process rights in his agency proceeding were unavailing. Finally, the court held that it lacked jurisdiction to consider petitioner's claim that the BIA erred in weighing the many factors regarding petitioner's moral character and the relevant hardships. The court also affirmed the BIA's denial of petitioner's motion to reopen and reconsider, holding that petitioner's claim failed because, if the BIA had reopened the case, the issue was whether petitioner was entitled to cancellation of removal–a form of discretionary relief that he has no constitutionally protected interest in receiving. Therefore, the BIA did not abuse its discretion when it declined to reopen and reconsider this case.