On June 28, 2024, the Supreme Court published Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, a monumental decision overturning its prior opinion in Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. Under Chevron—decided by the Supreme Court in 1984—courts were instructed to defer to an agency’s reasonable interpretation of an ambiguous statute (e.g., an agency’s regulations interpreting statutes). Loper Bright Enterprises makes clear that courts now must exercise their independent judgment in deciding whether an agency has acted within its statutory authority. Generally, this shifts the power of statutory interpretation from the agencies to the courts, the implications of which remain to be seen. However, one thing is clear: Loper Bright Enterprises opens new avenues for immigration litigation, particularly when challenging the policies of immigration agencies and precedent decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals.
Read the Supreme Court’s opinion here.