UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ADIL MOHAMED ABUZEID et al., Plaintiffs, v. Civil Action No. 18-382 (TJK) CHAD L. WOLF et al., Defendants. MEMORANDUM OPINION Dr. Adil Abuzeid, a citizen of the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia, applied for adjustment of his status in this country to lawful permanent residency under the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1255. His applications were denied several times, and he and his wife now request that this Court review, and effectively reverse, those decisions. Defendants argue that this Court has no jurisdiction to do so because Section 1252(a)(2)(B)(i) commands that “no court shall have jurisdiction to review . . . any judgment regarding the granting of relief under section . . . 1255 of this title.” Plaintiffs argue, to the contrary, that although Defendants’ ultimate exercise of discretion may be unreviewable, Dr. Abuzeid’s eligibility for that status under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(e) is a question of law that this Court may review. The Court ultimately agrees with Defendants that Section 1252(a)(2)(B)(i) means what it says. Thus, for substantially the same reasons this Court explained in Verastegui v. Wolf, 468 F. Supp. 3d 94 (D.D.C. 2020), it finds that Section 1252(a)(2)(B)(i) bars judicial review of Defendants’ decisions denying Dr. Abuzeid’s adjustment of status applications and grants Defendants’ motion to dismiss for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. Background Dr. Abuzeid is a citizen of the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia. ECF No. 8 (“Am. Compl.”) ¶ 1. He entered the United States in October 2001 as a nonimmigrant exchange visitor under 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(15)(J) to pursue graduate medical education. Id. ¶ 19–20. In June 2015, he filed an I-485 application for an adjustment of status to become a lawful permanent resident in connection with his pending employment-based visa petition, under regulations promulgated under 8 U.S.C. § 1255 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). Am. Compl. ¶ 26. That decision is ultimately a discretionary one. See 8 U.S.C. § 1255(i)(2) (“[T]he Attorney General may adjust the status of the alien to that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence if [the statutory eligibility requirements are satisfied].”) (emphasis added). In November 2017, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) denied his application because the agency found him inadmissible under 8 U.S.C. § 1182(e).1 See Am. Compl. ¶¶ 72–113; ECF No. 10-8. That provision requires that to be eligible for lawful permanent resident status, those like Dr. Abuzeid who come to the United States to pursue graduate medical education must establish that they have “resided and been physically present in the country of [their] nationality or [their] last residence for an aggregate of at least two years following departure from the United States.” 8 U.S.C. § 1182(e). Plaintiffs filed this suit in February 2018. ECF No. 1. In July 2018, USCIS reopened its decision and in October 2018, again denied Dr. Abuzeid’s application for substantially the same reason. See Am. Compl. ¶¶ 114–163; ECF No. 10-10.2 Throughout the administrative process, Dr. ...
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