DHS has power to revoke visas for sham marriages, Supreme Court rules

A unanimous Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Homeland Security has wide discretion to revoke visas for immigrants who entered into fake marriages.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, writing the opinion for the court, said Congress was explicit in giving broad leeway to the Homeland Security secretary, and the law leaves little room for judges to second-guess those decisions.

The case stemmed from a claim by Amina Bouarfa, a U.S. citizen who petitioned for her spouse, Ala’a Hamayel, a Palestinian citizen, to gain a U.S. visa.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services initially approved the spouse visa, but reversed course two years later. It said it uncovered new evidence that Mr. Hamayel engaged in a previous sham marriage a decade earlier and that made the new visa invalid.

Ms. Bouarfa objected, but the government cited the law that lets the secretary revoke a visa “for good and sufficient cause.”

Ms. Bouarfa then asked the courts to get involved, but Justice Jackson said Homeland Security’s decision is the final word.

“In any event, when the Secretary opts to revoke a petition that he determines should not have been approved in the first place, the petitioner is not out of options,” Justice Jackson wrote.

That applies only to revocations, however.

Justice Jackson said Homeland Security’s initial decision on issuing a benefit can be challenged in the courts.

That means Ms. Bouarfa can file a new application for her husband and, if USCIS rejects it, she can challenge that decision in the courts. Indeed, she has already applied and that application is pending, Justice Jackson said.