The U.S. Supreme Court recently issued a unanimous ruling on Dec. 10 stating that federal courts do not have the authority to review the federal government’s decision to revoke an immigration visa. The case, Bouarfa v. Mayorkas, involved the revocation of a Palestinian man’s visa due to fraudulent activities related to his previous marriage. The court’s opinion, authored by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, highlighted the discretionary power granted to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in such matters.
Amina Bouarfa, a U.S. citizen, had married noncitizen Ala’a Hamayel and sought to have him classified as an immediate relative for permanent resident status. However, USCIS later moved to revoke its approval of her petition after discovering evidence of fraud in Hamayel’s first marriage. Despite legal challenges, including a petition under the Administrative Procedure Act, the courts upheld the government’s decision, citing federal law prohibiting judicial review of visa revocations.
Justice Jackson emphasized the DHS Secretary’s discretion in revoking visa approvals and noted that Bouarfa still has the option to file a new petition for her husband. The Supreme Court ultimately affirmed the decision of the 11th Circuit, underscoring the limits of judicial review in such cases. The Epoch Times sought comments from the U.S. Department of Justice and Bouarfa’s attorney but received no responses at the time of publication.
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