Congress bars immigrants facing deportation from challenging their removal orders in federal court

President Bush signed the REAL ID Act of 2005, which included a provision eliminating habeas corpus review under 28 U.S.C. Section 2241 for final orders of removal, deportation, and exclusion. The Act made petitions to a court of appeals the sole and exclusive means for judicial review of removal orders. Congress preserved review of constitutional claims and questions of law, but stripped district courts of the jurisdiction that had previously allowed detainees to challenge removal in the courts where they were held.