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ARDESTANI v. INS Opinion of the Court

award on the ground that the Attorney General has determined that deportation proceedings are not within the scope of the EAJA. See 28 CFR § 24.103 (1991); 46 Fed. Reg. 48921, 48922 (1981) (interim rule). A divided Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit denied Ardestani’s petition for review and held that the EAJA does not apply to administrative deportation proceedings. 904 F. 2d 1505 (1990). We granted certiorari, 499 U. S. 904 (1991), to resolve a conflict among the United States Courts of Appeals 1 and now affirm. II The EAJA provides that prevailing parties in certain adversary administrative proceedings may recover attorney’s fees and costs from the Government. In pertinent part, 5 U. S. C. § 504(a)(1) provides that “[a]n agency that conducts an adversary adjudication shall award, to a prevailing party other than the United States, fees and other expenses incurred by that party in connection with that proceeding, unless the adjudicative officer of the agency finds that the position of the agency was substantially justified or that special circumstances make an award unjust.” The EAJA defines an “adversary adjudication” as “an adjudication under section 554 of this title in which the position of the United States is represented by counsel or otherwise.” 5 U. S. C. § 504(b)(1)(C)(i). Section 554 of Title 5, in turn, delineates 1 Five other Courts of Appeals agree with the court below that the EAJA does not apply to administrative deportation proceedings. Hashim v. INS, 936 F. 2d 711 (CA2 1991), cert. pending, No. 91–207; Escobar v. INS, 935 F. 2d 650 (CA4 1991); Hodge v. United States Dept. of Justice, 929 F. 2d 153 (CA5 1991), cert. pending, No. 91–83; Full Gospel Portland Church v. Thornburgh, 288 U. S. App. D. C. 356, 927 F. 2d 628 (1991), cert. pending, No. 91–494; Clarke v. INS, 904 F. 2d 172 (CA3 1990); accord, Owen v. Brock, 860 F. 2d 1363 (CA6 1988) (using similar analysis to hold that Federal Employees Compensation Act benefit determinations are not covered by the EAJA). The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has determined that administrative deportation proceedings are within the scope of the EAJA. Escobar Ruiz v. INS, 838 F. 2d 1020 (1988) (en banc).