§1535 Appeals

Summary

Gives the Attorney General and an immigrant ways to appeal certain court decisions to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. If the Attorney General wants a review of a denied order under section 1533, the appeal must be filed within 20 days. The whole case record is sent to the court under seal, and the court may hear it without the other side present. The court will take a fresh look at legal questions and will only overturn factual findings if they are clearly wrong. The United States can also take an early (interlocutory) appeal of specific judge decisions about classified evidence, with the full record and any classified material sent under seal and a sealed verbatim record kept. After a removal hearing, either the immigrant or the Attorney General can appeal the judge’s decision to the D.C. Circuit within 20 days, and the order won’t be enforced while the appeal is pending. If a lawful permanent resident is denied a written summary of classified evidence, the D.C. Circuit must review the judge’s order unless the resident waives that right, and classified- evidence issues are handled by a special attorney for the resident. Appeals with sealed or private evidence are sent under seal, are handled quickly, and the court may rule mostly on the judge’s record. The court must issue an opinion within 60 days of the district court’s final order. Either side may ask the Supreme Court to review. Sealed material stays sealed if sent to the Supreme Court, and removal is not paused while the Supreme Court considers review unless the court or a Justice orders it. Certain rules in Title 18, sections 3145–3148, apply to detention and release, and most Attorney General actions under section 1537(b)(2)(C) cannot be reviewed by courts except for constitutional claims, which go only to the D.C. Circuit.