Michelle Powell v. U.S. Attorney General, 703 F. App'x 787

Michelle Powell, a conditional lawful permanent resident based on marriage, sought a waiver to remove the conditional basis after her marriage ended.
The Immigration Judge (IJ) denied Powell’s waiver request, finding she failed to show the marriage was entered into in good faith; the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) affirmed.
Powell appealed to the Eleventh Circuit, arguing the BIA erred in its credibility/weight assessment and applied the wrong legal standard.
The government defended the BIA’s discretionary credibility and evidentiary determinations.
The court considered whether it had jurisdiction to review the BIA’s weighing of evidence and credibility determinations under the INA’s discretionary-decision bar.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Jurisdiction to review credibility/weight of evidence in good-faith marriage determination	Powell contended the BIA legally erred and sought review of the insufficiency of evidence supporting good faith	Government argued credibility/weight determinations are discretionary and not reviewable under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii)	Court lacked jurisdiction; challenges to weight/credibility are barred as discretionary decisions
Whether BIA applied wrong legal standard	Powell claimed the BIA applied the incorrect standard of proof	Government noted the BIA cited the correct standard; Powell effectively challenged the sufficiency/weight of evidence	Court found Powell raised a garden-variety abuse-of-discretion claim, not a reviewable legal issue; jurisdiction lacking

Fynn v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 752 F.3d 1250 (11th Cir. 2014) (jurisdictional bar to review of credibility/weight challenges in good-faith marriage determinations)
Ayala v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 605 F.3d 941 (11th Cir. 2010) (review limited to BIA decision except where BIA adopts IJ opinion)
Zafar v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 461 F.3d 1357 (11th Cir. 2006) (statutory discretionary-decision bar under § 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii))
Alvarado v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 610 F.3d 1311 (11th Cir. 2010) (preservation of jurisdiction for legal and constitutional claims under § 1252(a)(2)(D))
Alvarez Acosta v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 524 F.3d 1191 (11th Cir. 2008) (characterizing challenges to credibility/weight as garden-variety abuse-of-discretion)
Bedoya-Melendez v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 680 F.3d 1321 (11th Cir. 2012) (distinguishing reviewable legal questions from discretionary fact-to-law applications)
Lara v. Lynch, 789 F.3d 800 (7th Cir. 2015) (example where undisputed facts presented a legal question; not binding on Eleventh Circuit)