Plain-English summary
Court: DHS decision to revoke approved visa petitions over sham-marriage findings is discretionary and mostly unreviewa
The Court unanimously held that revocation of an approved immigrant visa petition under 8 U.S.C. §1155 based on a sham-marriage finding is a discretionary action barred from most federal-court review under 8 U.S.C. §1252(a)(2)(B)(ii). The Eleventh Circuit’s judgment was affirmed.
Why this matters
The ruling limits federal-court oversight of certain post-approval immigration decisions by DHS. It confirms that when the statute frames a decision as discretionary, courts generally cannot second-guess the agency’s judgment — even if the agency revokes a visa petition after initially approving it. That affects how immigrants and their sponsors can challenge adverse immigration determinations.
Who may feel it
- Immigrant petitioners and their U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident sponsors
- Immigration attorneys and advocates
- DHS, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and immigration adjudicators
- Federal courts handling immigration-related suits
Key questions