Gleibys Segura, a native and citizen of Guatemala, sought a waiver of inadmissibility and adjustment of status. An immigration judge initially granted this relief, but the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) reversed that decision. In its reversal, the BIA exercised its discretion to deny the waiver, determining that Segura's criminal history outweighed her positive equities. Segura then petitioned the Fifth Circuit for review, arguing that the BIA erred in its assessment of her case. The government moved to dismiss the petition, asserting that the court lacked jurisdiction to review the BIA's discretionary decision.
The court granted the government's motion to dismiss, relying on the jurisdiction-stripping provision of 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(B). This statute explicitly prohibits judicial review of 'any judgment regarding the granting of' discretionary relief. The court cited Parada-Orellana v. Garland to confirm that this bar applies to Segura's petition. Segura's core argument—that the BIA failed to properly consider her favorable considerations and focused too heavily on negative factors—was characterized as a challenge to the BIA's discretionary weighing of factors. The court clarified that such challenges are not reviewable legal or constitutional claims under the exception in § 1252(a)(2)(D). Although Segura raised new arguments in her reply brief claiming the BIA applied an incorrect standard of review and acted arbitrarily under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), the court found these meritless. The BIA correctly applied the standard from Matter of Arai, which places the burden on the applicant to demonstrate unusual or outstanding equities. Furthermore, the court noted that the APA does not apply to the BIA's individual proceedings under the Immigration and Nationality Act, citing Ardestani v. INS.
The petition for review is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction regarding the discretionary denial of relief. The BIA's adverse decision remains in full force, meaning Segura's waiver and adjustment of status are denied. The decision reinforces the strict jurisdictional bar in the Fifth Circuit against challenging the discretionary weighing of equities in immigration cases, leaving applicants with no judicial recourse for claims that the BIA simply misjudged the balance of factors.
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