The Supreme Court unanimously ruled Thursday that a federal court can hear the deportation case of a biological man who identifies as a woman.
Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, those entering the U.S. must follow specific procedures to appeal their deportation. In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the statute does not require Leon Santos-Zacaria, a transgender Guatemalan immigrant, to file a motion for reconsideration with the Board of Immigration Appeals before appealing to the Fifth Circuit.
“The Government’s position presents a world of administrability headaches for courts, traps for unwary noncitizens, and mountains of reconsideration requests for the Board (filed out of an abundance of caution by noncitizens unsure of the need to seek reconsideration),” Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote in her majority opinion. (RELATED: Ketanji Brown Jackson Spoke More Than Any Other Justice During This Term’s Oral Arguments)
Associate US Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson poses for the official photo at the Supreme Court in Washington, DC on October 7, 2022. (Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)
Leon Santos-Zacaria initially fled Guatemala in 2008 as a teenager and was deported by immigration authorities shortly after entering the U.S. When Santos-Zacaria was again apprehended upon return in 2018, Santos-Zacaria sought protection from removal due to fears of persecution, which Santos-Zacaria appealed to the Fifth Circuit after the requests were denied by an immigration judge and the Board of Immigration Appeals.
The Fifth Circuit denied Santos-Zacaria’s petition on the grounds that administrative options had not been exhausted.
Jackson questioned how noncitizens, who are “already navigating a complex bureaucracy, often pro se and in a foreign language,” can be expected to know when they can appeal when the Fifth Circuit itself was split on the matter.
Justice Samuel Alito filed an opinion concurring in judgement, which Justice Clarence Thomas joined.
The decision in Santos-Zacaria v. Garland is the third majority opinion Jackson has authored as a Supreme Court justice.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.