Janjua v. Neufeld, No. 17-16558 (9th Cir. 2019)
Annotate this Case
An issue was actually litigated only if it was raised, contested, and submitted for determination in the prior adjudication. The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment for USCIS and related defendants in an action brought by plaintiff alleging that issue preclusion barred the government from denying his adjustment of status application. In this case, shortly after petitioner was granted asylum, his application for adjustment of status was denied under 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3)(B)(i) for support of a Tier III terrorist organization.
The panel held that the issue of terrorism-related inadmissibility was not raised, contested, or submitted for determination at plaintiff's asylum proceeding, and thus it was not actually litigated. Therefore, issue preclusion did not bar the government from disputing the issue in plaintiff's adjustment of status.
Court Description: Immigration. Affirming the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (“USCIS”) and related defendants, the panel held that (1) for purposes of issue preclusion, an issue was “actually litigated” only if it was raised, contested, and submitted for determination in a prior adjudication, and (2) the issue of whether Khalil Janjua was inadmissible on terrorism-related grounds was not actually litigated in his asylum proceedings and, therefore, issue preclusion did not apply to his adjustment of status proceedings. Janjua, a native and citizen of Pakistan, was granted asylum and then applied for adjustment of status. USCIS denied his application on the ground that he was inadmissible for having supported a Tier III terrorist organization in connection with his involvement with the Muhajir Qaumi Movement in Pakistan. Janjua sought review of USCIS’s decision in the district court. Because the same terrorism-related grounds for JANJUA V. NEUFELD 3 inadmissibility that bar asylum also bar adjustment of status, Janjua argued that issue preclusion prevented the government from raising terrorism-related inadmissibility in the adjustment of status proceedings because the immigration judge had necessarily concluded that Janjua was not inadmissible on these grounds when he granted Janjua asylum. The district court concluded that issue preclusion did not apply and granted the government’s motion for summary judgment. Issue preclusion, also known as collateral estoppel, bars the relitigation of an issue where four conditions are met: (1) the issue at stake was identical in both proceedings; (2) the issue was actually litigated and decided in the prior proceedings; (3) there was a full and fair opportunity to litigate the issue; and (4) the issue was necessary to decide the merits. Here, the central question was whether Janjua’s inadmissibility for supporting a Tier III terrorist organization was “actually litigated” in his asylum proceeding. Assuming without deciding that issue preclusion applies in immigration adjustment of status proceedings, the panel held, consistent with the Restatement (Second) of Judgments and this court’s sister circuits, that an issue is “actually litigated” when an issue is raised, contested, and submitted for determination. The panel rejected Janjua’s argument that an issue should be considered actually litigated if it was implicitly raised or if the parties had a full and fair opportunity to raise it, explaining that such a standard would conflate the separate requirements that an issue be actually decided in the prior proceedings and necessary to decide the merits. 4 JANJUA V. NEUFELD Because the issue of whether Janjua was inadmissible on terrorism-related grounds was not raised, contested, and submitted for determination at his asylum proceeding, the panel concluded that the issue was not actually litigated and, thus, issue preclusion did not apply.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.