holding that aliens may not seek district court review of district directors' denial of asylum petitions but instead must exhaust administrative remedies by renewing asylum petition in ensuing deportation hearings
How later courts described this case
- holding that aliens may not seek district court review of district directors' denial of asylum petitions but instead must exhaust administrative remedies by renewing asylum petition in ensuing deportation hearings
- suggesting, in the context of an asylum application, that such review would constitute an impermissible end-run around the deportation process
- requiring plaintiff to await removal proceedings in order to exhaust administrative remedies before he could seek judicial review of an agency decision denying him asylum
- reviewing holdings from Haitian Refugee Ctr. v. Smith, 676 F.2d 1023 (Sth Cir. 1982) and Jean v. Nelson, 727 F.2d 957 (11th Cir. 1984)
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
RIPPLE, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
This case presents a very difficult issue of statutory interpretation. The court’s opinion is a thorough and balanced examination of the question which correctly represents, on the basis of all available evidence, the intent of Congress. I write separately only because I have substantial reservations about the court’s alternate treatment of the issue under the political question doctrine, a discussion which is unnecessary to the court’s basic statutory analysis.
In my view, this litigation does not present an appropriate opportunity to declare definitively that the matter of asylum is “committed to the political branches of government.” The full implications of such a statement are difficult to ascertain on this record. It is sufficient to say that the matter of political asylum, closely tied to the conduct of this country’s foreign relations, is an area where the political branches have traditionally exercised great discretion and where we would expect Congress to be quite explicit if it intended that the judiciary play a role.