Neil Gorsuch on Immigration

Allow access to relief in deportation proceedings

Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the majority opinion, adopting a rigid interpretation of a federal statute that requires the government to serve a "notice to appear" in order to trigger the "stop-time" rule. That rule can foreclose access to immigration relief by preventing noncitizens from accruing the time required for eligibility.

The voting line-up was unusual. Gorsuch's majority opinion was joined by the court's three liberals--Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan--as well as two other conservatives--Justices Clarence Thomas and Amy Coney Barrett. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote a dissent, which was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito.