The Supreme Court handed down a unanimous decision ruling that federal courts cannot review immigration officials’ decision to revoke previously approved visa petitions. Writing for the unanimous court, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said that visa revocations are purely discretional decisions by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that Congress has placed above judicial review. The case centered on Amina Bouarfa, a U.S. citizen whose visa petition for her noncitizen husband was initially approved by DHS but later revoked after the agency determined he had previously entered into a “sham marriage” to evade immigration laws. The Supreme Court, however, noted that safeguards remain and cited that visa petitioners can file new applications if their approvals are revoked, and courts can still review initial visa denials.
