Case: 22-20344 Document: 00516701135 Page: 1 Date Filed: 04/04/2023 United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit ____________ FILED April 4, 2023 No. 22-20344 Lyle W. Cayce ____________ Clerk Doctor Fathi Elltaif Saad Elldakli; Naglla Kouni Salem Ghadar; Hadil Fathi El Elldakli; Ranim Fathi El Elldakli; Taha Fathi El Elldakli, Plaintiffs—Appellants, versus Merrick B. Garland; Department of Homeland Security; Director Alejandro N. Mayorkas; USCIS; Ur M. Jaddou; John Allen; Wallace L. Carroll; United States of America, Defendants—Appellees. ______________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas USDC No. 4:21-CV-3320 ______________________________ Before Higginbotham, Smith, and Engelhardt, Circuit Judges. Jerry E. Smith, Circuit Judge: Plaintiffs ask whether 8 U.S.C. § 1252 strips the federal courts of jur- isdiction to review certain status-adjustment decisions by United States Citi- zenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”). But the parties overlook whether the federal courts have subject-matter jurisdiction to review status- Case: 22-20344 Document: 00516701135 Page: 2 Date Filed: 04/04/2023 No. 22-20344 adjustment decisions by the USCIS in the first place, despite the jurisdiction- stripping statute. We hold that status-adjustment decisions made by the USCIS outside the context of removal proceedings are not final agency actions reviewable under the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”), nor are they final re- moval actions reviewable per the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”). We thus affirm the district court’s order of dismissal for want of jurisdiction. I. Fathi Elltaif Saad Elldakli (“Elldakli”), his wife, and his three children are Libyan citizens who have resided lawfully in the United States for over a decade. All family members have been permanent residents for three and a half years. In 2017, Elldakli filed an I-140 petition, seeking a waiver of the labor-certification requirement of his visa because he is a “professional hold- ing an advanced degree whose work is in the national interest of the United States.” While the petition was pending, Elldakli and his family filed I-485 applications for status adjustment to legal permanent residents (“LPRs”) under 8 U.S.C. § 1255(a).1 Section 1255 grants the Attorney General the discretion to adjust the status of certain aliens to LPR status if they have met certain statutorily spe- cified conditions. One of those conditions is that the alien is a beneficiary of an approved immigrant visa petition—here, Elldakli’s pending I-140 peti- tion. See § 1255(i)(1)(B); 8 C.F.R. §§ 245.2(a)(2)(i) and (a)(5)(ii). But the USCIS granted the family’s I-485 petitions prematurely, before determining whether to grant Elldakli his I-140 petition. And six months later, the USCIS denied the I-140 petition. Elldakli appealed the _____________________ 1 These applications are colloquially referred to as green cards. 2 Case: 22-20344 Document: 00516701135 Page: 3 Date Filed: 04/04/2023 No. 22-20344 denial on its merits to the USCIS Administrative Appeals Office (“AAO”). While that appeal was pending, the USCIS issued a Notice of Intent to Rescind the family’s green cards, stating that the initial grant had been in error because the family had yet to become beneficiaries of an …
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