Eleanya Agidi v. Merrick Garland, 20-2116

Petitioner Eleanya Agbai Agidi, a Nigerian national, sought an inadmissibility waiver for alleged immigration fraud under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(1)(H).
An immigration judge denied the fraud waiver as a matter of discretion.
The Board of Immigration Appeals dismissed Agidi’s appeal of that denial and denied his motion to remand/reopen to present newly developed medical evidence.
Agidi petitioned the Fourth Circuit for review of the BIA’s discretionary denial and the denial of his remand/reopen motion.
The court concluded it lacked jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii) to review the agency’s discretionary denial and dismissed the petition; the court noted it retains jurisdiction only for constitutional claims and colorable questions of law.
The court also held that Agidi’s arguments challenged the weight the agency gave positive equities (a factual/discretionary matter) and that the remand denial involved merits of an enumerated provision, so it too was unreviewable.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Jurisdiction to review denial of fraud waiver	Agidi argued the BIA erred in weighing positive equities and sought review of the waiver denial	Government: discretionary denial of fraud waivers is unreviewable under § 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii)	Dismissed for lack of jurisdiction; discretionary waiver denials are not reviewable
Whether weighing of equities raises a legal question	Agidi contended the agency misapplied the law in weighing equities	Government: challenges to the weight given to factors are factual/discretionary, not legal	Held that challenges to the weight attributed to factors are factual and not colorable legal questions
Jurisdiction to review denial of motion to remand/reopen	Agidi argued BIA abused discretion by refusing to remand for new medical evidence	Government: denial was discretionary and tied to merits of an enumerated provision, thus unreviewable under § 1252(a)(2)(B)	Dismissed for lack of jurisdiction; bar applies when remand denial addresses merits of enumerated provision

Asentic v. Sessions, 873 F.3d 974 (7th Cir. 2017) (collecting cases that courts lack jurisdiction to review discretionary denial of fraud waivers)
Sorcia v. Holder, 643 F.3d 117 (4th Cir. 2011) (challenge to the weight assigned to factors is not a question of law; § 1252(a)(2)(B) bar applies to remand denials addressing merits)
Nasrallah v. Barr, 140 S. Ct. 1683 (U.S. 2020) (reaffirming noncitizens cannot bring factual challenges to denials of discretionary relief)