Ibarra v. Swacina, 628 F.3d 1269 (11th Cir. 2010). · Go Syfert
Ibarra v. Swacina, 628 F.3d 1269 (11th Cir. 2010). Cases Citing This Book View Copy Cite
“the district court did not err in concluding it lacked jurisdiction under the apa to review the denial of 's application for adjustment of status.”
38 citation events (37 in the last 25 years) across 7 distinct courts.
Strongest positive: Sanchez Ramirez v. Attorney General of the United States (flsd, 2021-02-05) · Strongest negative: Mehrdad Hosseini v. Jeh Johnson (ca6, 2016-06-17)
Treatment trajectory · 2011 → 2026 · click a year to view as-of
2011 2018 2026
Top citers, strongest first. 12 distinct citers.
discussed Cited "but see" Mehrdad Hosseini v. Jeh Johnson
6th Cir. · 2016 · signal: but see · confidence high
See Cabaccang, 627 F.3d at 1317 ; Pinho v. Gonzales, 432 F.3d 193, 202 (3d Cir. 2005); but see Ibarra v. Swacina, 628 F.3d 1269 , 1270 n. 2 (11th Cir. 2010) (saving the question for another day). *361 The Third Circuit’s opinion in Pinho v. Gonzales, 432 F.3d 193 (3d Cir. 2005), is particularly instructive.
discussed Cited as authority (verbatim quote) Faqedah
M.D. Fla. · 2026 · signal: see also · quote attribution · 1 verbatim quote · confidence high
the district court did not err in concluding it lacked jurisdiction under the apa to review the denial of 's application for adjustment of status.
discussed Cited as authority (verbatim quote) Sanchez Ramirez v. Attorney General of the United States (2×) also: Cited as authority (rule)
S.D. Fla. · 2021 · quote attribution · 1 verbatim quote · confidence high
we do not . . . decide whether we have jurisdiction under the apa if the alien has not yet been placed in removal proceedings.
discussed Cited as authority (rule) Rodriguez v. Cuccinelli
N.D. Ala. · 2021 · confidence medium
Defendants’ argument succeeds only if USCIS’s denial was not a “final agency action” under 5 U.S.C. § 704 , because “judicial review is not available until ‘an aggrieved party has exhausted all administrative remedies expressly prescribed by statute or agency rule.’” Ibarra v. Swacina, 628 F.3d 1269, 1269 (11th Cir. 2010) (quoting Darby v. Cisneros, 509 U.S. 137, 146 (1993)).
discussed Cited as authority (rule) Mancia v. Wolf (2×)
N.D. Ga. · 2021 · confidence medium
Under this standard, “judicial review is not available until ‘an aggrieved party has exhausted all administrative remedies expressly prescribed by statute or agency rule.’” Ibarra v. Swacina, 628 F.3d 1269, 1269 (11th Cir. 2010) (quoting Darby v. Cisneros, 509 U.S. 137, 146 (1993)).
discussed Cited as authority (rule) Bermudez v. Stulz
S.D. Fla. · 2020 · confidence medium
“An adjustment of status decision is a final agency action when ‘there are no deportation proceedings pending in which the decision might be reopened or challenged.’” Gupta v U.S. Att’y Gen., 439 F. App’x 858, 860 (11th Cir. 2011) (quoting Ibarra v. Swacina, 628 F.3d 1269, 1270 (11th Cir. 2010)).
discussed Cited as authority (rule) Canal A Media Holding LLC v. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (2×) also: Cited "see"
11th Cir. · 2020 · confidence medium
In Ibarra, a panel of this Court held that federal courts may not hear an APA claim regarding denial of a petition for status adjustment if there are “deportation proceedings pending in which the [adjustment] decision might be reopened or challenged.” Id. at 1270 (quotation marks omitted).
discussed Cited as authority (rule) Patricia Peters v. Janet Napolitano
9th Cir. · 2014 · confidence medium
And even assuming we could remand directly to USCIS, such a remand would be “futile at this point” because now “the immigration judge has exclusive jurisdiction over [Peters’] adjustment of status application[.]” Ibarra v. Swacina, 628 F.3d 1269, 1270 (11th Cir.2010).
discussed Cited as authority (rule) Anesh Gupta v. U.S. Attorney General (2×) also: Cited "see"
11th Cir. · 2011 · confidence medium
An adjustment of status decision is a final agency action when “there are no deportation proceedings pending in which the decision might be reopened or challenged.” Ibarra v. Swacina, 628 F.3d 1269, 1270 (11th Cir.2010) (quotation marks omitted); see id. (holding that a district court lacks subject matter jurisdiction under the APA to review the denial of an alien’s application for adjustment of status where the alien is in removal proceedings).
discussed Cited as authority (rule) Rodrigo Aguilera vs District Director, USCIS, Miami, FL, Attorney General (2×) also: Cited "see"
11th Cir. · 2011 · confidence medium
The APA establishes that judicial review is not available until “an aggrieved party has exhausted all administrative remedies expressly prescribed by statute or agency rule.” Ibarra v. Swacina, 628 F.3d 1269, 1269 (11th Cir.2010) (quotation omitted).
examined Cited "see" Victor Manuel Flores Guereca v. Acting Director, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (3×) also: Cited "see, e.g."
11th Cir. · 2022 · signal: accord · confidence high
Accord- ingly, Ibarra makes clear that USCIS’s decision denying his appli- cation to adjust status is no longer a final decision. 628 F.3d at 1270 . 3 This is not a case where removal proceedings have con- 3 We are bound by Ibarra under the prior panel precedent rule, and Flores Guereca does not assert a Supreme Court opinion or an opinion of this USCA11 Case: 21-13709 Date Filed: 06/03/2022 Page: 9 of 9 21-13709 Opinion of the Court 9 cluded and a final order of removal is instituted.
discussed Cited "see" Canal A Media Holding, LLC v. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (2×)
S.D. Fla. · 2019 · signal: see · confidence high
See id. at 1269 .
Laudy R. IBARRA, Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
Linda SWACINA, Director, United States Citizenship & Immigration Services, Miami and Caribbean District, Defendant-Appellee
09-16393.
Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
Dec 28, 2010.
628 F.3d 1269
Stephen Matthew Bander, Paul Kunz, Bander & Associates, P.A., Miami, FL, for Ibarra., Kathleen M. Salyer, Carlos Javier Raurell, Anne R. Schultz, Asst. U.S. Atty., Sally M. Richardson, Miami, FL, for Swacina.
Dubina, Black, Goldberg.
Cited by 14 opinions  |  Published
PER CURIAM:

Laudy R. Ibarra appeals the district court’s dismissal of her complaint under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. § 701 et. seq. for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Ibarra seeks review of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) denial of her I-485 application for adjustment to legal permanent resident status. Ibarra asserts the district court erred in concluding she has not exhausted her administrative remedies as required by the APA because she is required to first go through removal proceedings. [1] After review, we affirm the district court’s dismissal.

The APA establishes judicial review is not available until “an aggrieved party has exhausted all administrative remedies expressly prescribed by statute or agency rule.” Darby v. Cisneros, 509 U.S. 137, 146, 113 S.Ct. 2539, 125 L.Ed.2d 113 (1993). At that point, “the agency action is ‘final for the purposes of this section’ and therefore ‘subject to judicial review.’ ” Id. (quoting 5 U.S.C. § 704). The regulation[*1270] regarding the USCIS’s denial of an application for adjustment of status allows an alien “to renew his or her application in [removal] proceedings.” 8 C.F.R. § 245.2(a)(5)(h). Once an alien is placed in removal proceedings, “the immigration judge hearing the proceeding has exclusive jurisdiction to adjudicate any application for adjustment of status the alien may file.” 8 C.F.R. § 1245.2(a)(1).

Ibarra is currently in removal proceedings, and will participate in a removal hearing on January 6, 2011. Ibarra concedes that she is renewing her adjustment of status application in removal proceedings, which gives her another opportunity to obtain adjustment of status. The decision on her adjustment of status is not yet final, as an adjustment of status “decision is final where there are no deportation proceedings pending in which the decision might be reopened or challenged.” Pinho v. Gonzales, 432 F.3d 193, 202 (3d Cir. 2005). [2] Moreover, because the immigration judge has exclusive jurisdiction over Ibarra’s adjustment of status application, remand to the USCIS would be futile at this point.

Ibarra’s case is different from Mejia Rodriguez v. U.S. Dep’t of Homeland Sec., 562 F.3d 1137, 1145 (11th Cir.2009). In that case we held the USCIS’s dismissal of Mejia Rodriguez’s appeal of his application for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) was a final agency decision, and thus the district court had jurisdiction under the APA to review his claim challenging the US-CIS’s decision. Id. at 1145-46. The TPS regulations, similar to the adjustment of status regulations, permit de novo review of an alien’s eligibility for TPS by an immigration judge if the alien is placed into removal proceedings after the denial of his TPS application by the USCIS. Id. at 1145, citing 8 C.F.R. §§ 244. 10(d)(1), 244.11. We concluded those regulations were inapplicable to the circumstances regarding Mejia Rodriguez’s TPS application because Mejia Rodriguez had already gone through removal proceedings before his application for TPS was denied by the USCIS, and there was an existing, final order of removal against him. Id. We declined to require Mejia Rodriguez to “demand[ ] that the [Board of Immigration Appeals] sua sponte re-open his prior removal proceedings to review his TPS eligibility.” Id. at 1145 n. 16. We did not decide whether the district court would have jurisdiction under the APA if Mejia Rodriguez had currently been in removal proceedings, as Ibarra is here.

The district court did not err in concluding it lacked jurisdiction under the APA to review the denial of Ibarra’s application for adjustment of status. Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s dismissal of Ibarra’s case for lack of jurisdiction under the APA.

AFFIRMED.

1

. Ibarra further asserts the district court erred in concluding a determination that an alien is not entitled to adjust her status pursuant to the Cuban Adjustment Act is a discretionary matter not subject to review under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii). As we affirm the district court's conclusion it lacked jurisdiction under the APA, we need not address this issue.

2

. In Pinho, the Third Circuit held the district court had jurisdiction under the APA in a case challenging the USCIS's denial of adjustment of status to an alien. Unlike Ibarra, however, the alien had not yet been placed in removal proceedings. Pinho, 432 F.3d at 196, 202. We do not have before us and therefore do not decide whether we have jurisdiction under the APA if the alien has not yet been placed in removal proceedings.