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    IMMIGRATION                                                        FEBRUARY 20, 2026       |  The Indian Eye 39

            lish that the scholarly publications  the Supreme Court brought about  uously received awards recognizing  parameters of the regulatory crite-
            in themselves are also extraordinary  the demise of Chevron deference.    her status or kept up with that lev-  ria or reverse its prior acceptance of
            in order to qualify as a person of ex-  The  Court in Mukherjee v.  el  of  production.  The  Court  finds  evidence under the regulatory cri-
            traordinary ability. This is a circular  Miller while reviewing the merits  nothing in the statutory scheme that  teria. Prior to Mukherjee v. Miller,
            argument, which Kazarian appro-   of the USICS’s decision held that it  would support such a finding.”    most courts have clung onto the fi-
            priately shot down.  If Kazarian just  was an arbitrary and capricious de-  It remains to be seen whether  nal merits determination even when
            stopped there, it would have been a  cision. The reviewing officer hailed  other courts will also be nudged by  reversing the USCIS denial (as in
            wonderful outcome. Unfortunate-   to articulate the required standard  Loper Bright to disregard the US-  Scripps  College),  but  now  future
            ly, Kazarian had been interpreted  and the failure to meet the standard  CIS’s final merits determination. In  courts have Loper Bright on their
            to also require a vague and second  by the plaintiff. It appeared that the  Scripps College v. Jaddou, a case  side to not pay deference to the fi-
            step  analysis  known  as  the  “final  plaintiff did not meet the final mer-  decided just prior to Loper Bright,  nal merits determination while  still
            merits determination,” which can  its because she failed to indefinite-  the Court did not discard the final  relying on Kazarian to shoot down
            stump even the most extraordinary.   ly stay at the top of her field. The  merits analysis but still overturned  the circular argument, which is  that
                Now Mukherjee v. Miller has  Court held that “[I]t is clear that  the USCIS by holding that USCIS  one does not need to submit ex-
            relied on Loper Bright to hold that  the Plaintiff in this case was at the  cannot and should not, under the  traordinary evidence under one of
            the final merits determination was  top of her field. No one argues that  cover of the second step final merits  the ten criteria to establish extraor-
            unlawful although many courts have  is not accurate. The Agency based  determination, be allowed to intro-  dinary ability.
            adopted it.   Even the Fifth Circuit  its decision on whether she contin-  duce new requirements outside the
            in Amin v. Mayorkas     adopted the   ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
            final  merits  determination,  based   Cyrus D. Mehta, a graduate of Cambridge University and Columbia Law School, is the Managing Partner of Cyrus D. Mehta
            upon which it upheld the denial of   & Partners PLLC in New York City. Mr. Mehta is a member of AILA’s Administrative Litigation Task Force; AILA’s EB-5 Com-
            Mr. Amin’s extraordinary ability  mittee; former chair of AILA’s Ethics Committee; special counsel on immigration matters to the Departmental Disciplinary
            petition even though he met three  Committee, Appellate Division, First Department, New York; member of the ABA Commission on Immigration; board member
            of the ten criteria. The Fifth Circuit  of Volunteers for Legal Services and board member of New York Immigration Coalition.  Mr. Mehta is the former chair of the
            held that the USCIS did not violate  Board of Trustees of the American Immigration Council and former chair of the Committee on Immigration and Nationality
            the APA by not adopting a formal  Law of the New York City Bar Association. He is a frequent speaker and writer on various immigration-related issues, including
            rule  as  the  final  merits  determi-  on ethics, and is also an adjunct professor of law at Brooklyn Law School, where he teaches a course entitled Immigration and
            nation was an interpretive rather  Work.  Mr. Mehta received the AILA 2018 Edith Lowenstein Memorial Award for advancing the practice of immigration law
            than a legislative rule and do it did  and the AILA 2011 Michael Maggio Memorial Award for his outstanding efforts in providing pro bono representation in the
            not need to go through notice and   immigration field. He has also received two AILA Presidential Commendations in 2010 and 2016.  Mr. Mehta is ranked among
            comment. The Fifth Circuit issued   the most highly regarded lawyers in North America by Who’s Who Legal – Corporate Immigration Law 2019 and is also ranked
            Amin v. Mayorkas in 2022 before   in Chambers USA and Chambers Global 2019 in immigration law, among other rankings.

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