decided April 22, 2025
The federally enacted Illegal Immigration Reform and Im¬migrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) allows certain undocumented immigrants to voluntarily depart from the United States without incurring the costs and penalties of a forced removal ordered by the Justice Department, but only the condition the eligible “alien” does in fact voluntarily depart from the United States within 60 days of the final administrative order expelling him or her. In the words of the statute, the period within which the alien is allowed “to depart voluntarily” without incurring the costs of a forced removal must not be “for a period exceeding 60 days.” 8 U.S.C. § 1229(c)(b)(2).
In this case, the Court ruled 5-4, that the statute actually extended the allowable period for a “voluntary departure” to the first business day following the end of the 60-day period, if the 60th day fell on a weekend or holiday. The Court explained that the Justice Department had, for long time, followed its own administrative regulation providing for that kind of extension of deadlines that it had set in other regulations, and that Congress probably intended to follow that practice in setting statutory deadlines. Justices Alito, Thomas, Kavanaugh, and Barrett dissented.
COMMENT: When Congressional intent is expressly and unambiguously stated in a statute, the Court has no business speculating about any other intent. In the IIRIRA, at 8 U.S.C. §1229(c)(b)(2), Congress expressly and unambiguously stated its intent to set an absolute deadline for an undocumented alien’s cost-free “voluntary departure.” The limited “voluntary departure” period set in the statute was not to “exceed[…] 60 days.” The Court should stay out of the business of rewriting a valid statute, even when it believes it can write a fairer statute.
RECENT RULINGS 