When I saw this opinion, my first thought was: "It's an immigration case, and it's authored by Judge Wallace, so I already know how it turns out." As I read further, yep, I was indeed not surprised by the ultimate result.
But my second thought was, honestly: "I know I'm old, but Judge Wallace has to be really getting up there, no? Great for him to be still cranking out opinions."
Judge Wallace was a long-timer even when I was clerking on the Ninth Circuit, way back in the day; indeed, he was the Chief Judge back then. To give you some sense of how long he's been on the Ninth Circuit, he was appointed by President Nixon. Whoa. Blast from the past.
He's 92 years young, and still writing opinions. Not a plethora, mind you; as far as I can tell, he's only written a half dozen in 2021. Still. For me, I'd definitely take that level of production myself at age 92, thank you very much.
So kudos to Judge Wallace.
Who, by the way, is not the oldest judge on the Ninth Circuit. That award belongs to Judge Goodwin, who's a spry 98. But I think that Judge Goodwin has only authored two opinions in the past half dozen years; one back in 2016, and another back in 2015 (from a case argued in 2012). So Judge Wallace likely wins the award for continuing on-the-bench performance.
Though Judge Goodwin still wins first past the post.
