Eric H. Holder, JR., Attorney General, Petitioner v. Carlos Martinez Gutierrez (566 U.S. 583)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided May 21, 2012 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 566 U.S. 583 · 132 S. Ct. 2011
- Decided
- May 21, 2012
- Term
- October Term 2011
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Kagan
- Issue area
- Civil Rights
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice Kagan delivered the opinion of the Court. An immigration statute, 8 U. S. C. § 1229b(a), authorizes the Attorney General to cancel the removal of an alien from the United States so long as the alien satisfies certain criteria. One of those criteria relates to the length of time an alien has lawfully resided in the United States, and another to the length of time he has held permanent resident status here. We consider whether the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA or Board) could reasonably conclude that an alien living in this country as a child must meet those requirements on his own, without counting a parent’s years of residence or immigration status. We hold that the BIA’s approach is based on a permissible construction of the statute. I A The immigration laws have long given the Attorney General discretion to permit certain otherwise-removable aliens to remain in the United States. See Judulang v. Holder, 565 U. S. 42, 59 (2011). The Attorney General formerly exercised this authority by virtue of § 212(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 66 Stat. 187, 8 U. S. C. § 1182(e) (1994 ed.), a provision with some lingering relevance here, see infra, at 7-9. But in 1996, Congress replaced § 212(c) with §1229b(a) (2006 ed.). That new section, applicable to the cases before us, provides as follows: “(a) Cancellation of removal for certain permanent residents…
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