§1535 Appeals

Summary

Allows the Attorney General to ask the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to review a denial of an order under section 1533 by filing a notice of appeal no later than 20 days after the denial. The full case record is sent to that court and kept secret. The court can hear some matters without the other side present. It reviews legal questions anew and will overturn factual findings only if they are clearly wrong. The United States may also take an early (interlocutory) appeal to the same court about certain judge decisions under section 1534(e)(3); the whole record, any proposed order, classified material, and the evidence summary are sent and kept secret, with a verbatim record also kept under seal. After a removal hearing, either the alien or the Attorney General can appeal the judge’s decision to the D.C. Circuit by notice filed within 20 days, and the judge’s order is not enforced while that appeal is pending. If a lawful permanent resident was denied a written summary of classified information under section 1534(e)(3) and special procedures apply, the Court of Appeals must review the judge’s order unless the resident waives review. In such classified-information cases the resident is represented only by the special attorney named in the rules. The entire record goes to the court, and any private or secret material and parts of the order that would reveal it are kept secret. Appeals are to be handled quickly; the court may rely on the judge’s record and limited briefs and must issue an opinion within 60 days of the district court’s final order. Law is reviewed anew; factual findings are generally left unless clearly wrong, except in the special permanent-resident/classified-information reviews, where facts are reviewed anew. After that decision, either side may ask the Supreme Court for review; sealed material stays sealed, and removal orders are not automatically stayed while a certiorari petition is pending unless the appeals court or a Supreme Court Justice says so. Certain rules in title 18 (sections 3145–3148) apply to aliens covered by section 1537(b)(1), with appeals to the D.C. Circuit and other specified adjustments. Decisions under section 1537(b)(2)(C) are not open to judicial review except for claims that continued detention violates the Constitution, and those claims must go only to the D.C. Circuit.