GOULD, Circuit Judge:
Petitioner Peter James Bingham petitions for review of an order of removal issued by the Department of Homeland Security ("DHS"). He contends that the enforcement of a written waiver of rights associated with his entry into the United States through the Visa Waiver Program and the summary issuance of an order of removal without a hearing violate his due process rights. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a). We deny the petition for review.
Bingham is a citizen of the United Kingdom. He was admitted to the United States on March 11, 2007 under the terms of the Visa Waiver Program. The Visa Waiver Program ("VWP"), first implemented as a pilot program in 1986, authorizes the Attorney General and Secretary of State to waive the visa requirements for entry to the United States for aliens that are nationals of certain designated countries, and who meet a series of statutory requirements. 8 U.S.C. § 1187. These VWP entrants may be admitted to the United States as tourists for a period of ninety days. § 1187(a)(1). In exchange for this benefit, aliens seeking admission to the United States without first obtaining a visa must waive their right "to review or appeal under this chapter of an immigration officer's determination as to the admissibility of the alien at the port of entry into the United States" and "to contest, other than on the basis of an application for asylum, any action for removal of the alien." § 1187(b). A VWP entrant's removability "shall be determined by the district director who has jurisdiction over the place where the alien is found, and shall be effected without referral of the alien to an immigration judge for a determination of deportability" unless the alien applies for asylum. 8 C.F.R. § 217.4(b). We have described the waiver provision as "the linchpin of the program," in that it "assures that a person who comes here with a VWP visa will leave on time and will not raise a host of legal and factual claims to impede his removal if he overstays."
Under the terms of the VWP, Bingham was admitted for a period of ninety days,
Bingham timely filed a petition for review of the order of removal. The government submitted the administrative record for the appeal on November 27, 2009, after an extension of time to do so. The administrative record did not contain a copy of the actual waiver, the I-94W Nonimmigrant Visa Waiver Arrival/Departure Form (Form I-94W), signed by Bingham. However, shortly before oral argument, the government successfully moved to supplement the administrative record with the signed waiver form. Bingham moved to reconsider the grant of leave to supplement the record, arguing that he should be permitted to respond in writing on the significance of the document, because his principal arguments on appeal related to the nonexistence of the signed waiver. Following oral argument, we permitted supplemental briefing from both parties on the significance of the signed waiver form to the issues raised in this petition for review.
We first address whether we have jurisdiction to entertain the questions raised in the petition for review. Bingham contends that we have jurisdiction over final orders of removal issued by DHS under § 1252(a)(1). The government agrees that we have jurisdiction over Bingham's removal order but adds the caveat that because VWP entrants sign a waiver of their right to contest removal (except through an application for asylum, for which Bingham has not applied), the only question before us is whether Bingham waived those rights. Section 1252 supports the parties' assertions regarding jurisdiction. Though a VWP entrant waives the right to contest removal except on the basis of asylum, § 1187(b)(2), a VWP entrant can invoke § 1252(a) to challenge a final order of removal on the basis that he or she is not at all subject to the VWP regime.
Several other courts of appeals similarly have determined that they have jurisdiction to review removal orders issued by DHS where the VWP entrant challenges the validity of the waiver. Bayo v. Napolitano, 593 F.3d 495, 500 (7th Cir.2010) (en banc) (citing § 1252(a)(1) to establish its jurisdiction over a petition for review from an administrative order of removal against a VWP entrant); Bradley v. U.S. Attorney General, 603 F.3d 235, 237 n. 1 (3d Cir. 2010) (same); see also McCarthy v. Mukasey, 555 F.3d 459 (5th Cir.2009). Just as did our sister circuits, we conclude that we have jurisdiction to review the final order
Bingham makes several arguments seeking to support his idea that the waiver of rights he signed on entry is invalid, and to obtain the relief of a removal hearing before an immigration judge. In his opening brief, Bingham asserted that the government did not establish that the order of removal was based on "clear and convincing evidence," because the government had not produced a copy of the signed waiver of rights, Form I-94W, for the administrative record. While this appeal was pending, however, the government gained a copy of the Form I-94W, signed by Bingham, and successfully moved us to supplement the administrative record.
Bingham's remaining arguments presented in his briefing are: (1) the language of the Form I-94W waiver he signed at the airport to gain admission was insufficient to inform him of the rights he was waiving, (2) the waiver is unenforceable under contract principles because Bingham did not know about the waiver requirement until he landed in the United States and received the form, and (3) the waiver violates the unconstitutional conditions doctrine. These attempts to invalidate the waiver on its face fail.
First, Bingham's allegation that the language of the waiver form he signed on entry was insufficient to constitute waiver of the right to a hearing before an immigration judge is refuted by examination of the waiver language. The Form I-94W signed by Bingham has this language:
Bingham first contends that the version of Form I-94W he signed referred to "any action in deportation" rather than "any action in removal" and does not reflect the statutory language of § 1187(b). The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 merged what had been known as deportation and exclusion hearings into a broader category called removal proceedings. Hose v. INS, 180 F.3d 992, 994 n. 1 (9th Cir.1999) (en banc). The use of the term "deportation" instead of "removal" does not strip the waiver language of its force and meaning.
Bingham complains further that the phrase "any action in deportation" is imprecise because it does not distinguish whether the alien is foregoing the opportunity to challenge the finding of deportability only, or whether he is additionally waiving the opportunity to contest his physical removal from the United States, which in Bingham's view implies the chance to apply for forms of affirmative relief from removal. We reject that there is ambiguity in the waiver provision. The waiver tells the arriving alien that by signing the Form I-94W he is waiving "any rights . . . to contest . . . any action in deportation." A deportation or removal "action" includes both the finding of a statutory basis for removal and determinations that resolve any issue of relief from removal. The waiver's use of the term "action in deportation" means that the alien waives the opportunity to contest any issue that might be raised in a removal proceeding. The express exception for an application for asylum reinforces that the waiver language encompasses applications for relief from removal.
Bingham next claims that the waiver is unenforceable if analyzed under contract principles because, under the VWP as implemented when he arrived, an alien does not receive the waiver form and learn of the waiver requirement until he is en route to the United States. He describes the kind of information readily available to British citizens on the website of the United States consulate in London
Finally, Bingham's claim that the waiver violates the unconstitutional conditions doctrine is without merit. The unconstitutional conditions doctrine says that
To the extent Bingham's arguments amount to an assertion that he did not understand the waiver when signed and did not waive his rights knowingly, these arguments are without merit. Such a claim requires a threshold determination that a VWP entrant waives constitutional due process rights to a removal hearing—despite the fact that the waiver is made by an alien at the border seeking entry—and therefore must be knowing and voluntary to be effective. See Zadvydas v. Davis, 533 U.S. 678, 693, 121 S.Ct. 2491, 150 L.Ed.2d 653 (2001) ("The distinction between an alien who has effected an entry into the United States and one who has never entered runs throughout immigration law."); Fuentes v. Shevin, 407 U.S. 67, 94 n. 31, 92 S.Ct. 1983, 32 L.Ed.2d 556 (1972) (noting that even in the civil area, we do not "presume acquiescence in the loss of fundamental rights" and that courts "indulge every reasonable presumption against waiver"). We have yet to pass upon the constitutional implications of the VWP waiver or decide whether it must be knowing and voluntary.
Bayo, 593 F.3d at 506; see also Bradley, 603 F.3d at 240 (adopting the reasoning of Bayo). Similarly, Bingham has not shown that, but for his allegedly unknowing waiver, he would have been able to contest his removal on the basis of marriage to a United States citizen or any other ground.
The procedure required by the VWP is neither complex nor unfair. The alien signing the VWP form gives up any right to challenge removal, except on asylum grounds, if he or she overstays the grant of time permitted by the VWP. The quid pro quo that the alien gets is an entry without satisfying the need for a visa. If we were to permit such unjustified challenges as here are made by Bingham, it would destroy the efficacy of the VWP, which permits millions of aliens each year to enter quickly and without a visa.