Bouarfa v. Mayorkas

604 U.S. 6, 145 S. Ct. 24, 220 L. Ed. 2d 245
Supreme Court of the United States·Decided December 10, 2024·No. 23-583·Published·Cited by 36 cases

Opinion

(Slip Opinion) OCTOBER TERM, 2024 1

Syllabus

NOTE: Where it is feasible, a syllabus (headnote) will be released, as is being done in connection with this case, at the time the opinion is issued. The syllabus constitutes no part of the opinion of the Court but has been prepared by the Reporter of Decisions for the convenience of the reader. See United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co., 200 U. S. 321, 337.

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

BOUARFA v. MAYORKAS, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY, ET AL.

CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT

No. 23–583. Argued October 15, 2024—Decided December 10, 2024 Amina Bouarfa, a U. S. citizen, began the process of obtaining perma- nent legal residence for Ala’a Hamayel, her noncitizen spouse, by filing a visa petition with the U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Relevant here, USCIS “shall . . . approve” a visa petition if it “determines that the facts stated in the petition are true” and that the noncitizen is the petitioner’s spouse. 8 U. S. C. §1154(b) (emphasis added). But if the noncitizen has previously sought or received an im- migration benefit “by reason of a marriage determined by the Attorney General to have been entered into for the purpose of evading the im- migration laws”—known as the sham-marriage bar—the agency must deny the petition. §1154(c). USCIS initially approved Bouarfa’s visa petition. Two years later, the agency sent Bouarfa a Notice of Intent to Revoke its approval based on evidence suggesting that her husband had previously entered into a marriage for the purpose of evading im- migration laws. Although Bouarfa vigorously denied the evidence, the agency revoked its prior approval based on the Secretary of Homeland Security’s statutory authority under §1155 to “revoke the approval of any petition” “for good and sufficient cause.” The Board of Immigra- tion Appeals affirmed the revocation, finding that USCIS’s determina- tion that Hamayel had entered into a prior sham marriage that would have prevented initial approval of the petition under §1154(c) consti- tuted “good and sufficient cause” for revocation under §1155. Bouarfa challenged the agency’s revocation in federal court. The District Court dismissed the suit, holding that §1252(a)(2)(B)(ii)—a provision that strips federal courts of jurisdiction to review certain dis- cretionary agency decisions—barred judicial review of the agency’s revocation. The Eleventh Circuit affirmed. 2 BOUARFA v. MAYORKAS

Held: Revocation of an approved visa petition under §1155 based on a sham-marriage determination by the Secretary is the kind of discre- tionary decision that falls within the purview of §1252(a)(2)(B)(ii), which strips federal courts of jurisdiction to review certain actions “in the discretion of ” the agency. Pp. 6–12. (a) Section 1155 is a quintessential grant of discretion: The Secre- tary “may” revoke a previously approved visa petition “at any time” for what the Secretary deems “good and sufficient cause.” Such a broad grant of authority “fairly exudes deference” to the Secretary and is similar to other statutes held to “ ‘commi[t]’ ” a decision “ ‘to agency dis- cretion.’ ” Webster v. Doe, 486 U. S. 592, 600. Congress did not impose specific criteria or conditions limiting this authority, nor did it pre- scribe how or when the Secretary must act. Context reinforces the discretionary nature of §1155. Section 1252(a)(2)(B)(ii)’s neighboring provision, §1252(a)(2)(B)(i), bars judicial review under specific provi- sions, each of which contains language indicating that the decisions involved are entrusted to the discretion of the Attorney General. Sec- tion 1155 contains similar language. Pp. 6–8. (b) Bouarfa argues that although some revocations are discretion- ary, the revocation here was not, so §1252(a)(2)(B)(ii) does not apply to preclude judicial review. Bouarfa contends that once the Secretary approves a petition and later determines that the beneficiary had pre- viously entered into a sham marriage, the Secretary has no choice but to revoke the agency’s approval. Neither the statutory text nor its con- text limits the Secretary’s discretion in this way. Pp. 8–12. (1) Contrary to Bouarfa’s argument, §1154(c)’s text nowhere cre- ates an ongoing duty for the agency to continually confirm that its in- itial approval was sound. Instead, §1154(c)’s command to the agency extends only to the point of approval. Turning to §1154(c)’s context, Bouarfa argues that because a noncitizen may use an approved visa petition to continue along the path toward permanent residency, Con- gress implicitly required the agency to continually reassess its prior approval. But nothing in the statutory scheme requires revisiting past decisions of approval; rather, each stage of the process comes with its own criteria. Indeed, the specific grant of discretion in §1155 to revoke prior approval of a visa petition forecloses the argument that Congress silently mandated revocation in certain situations. Pp. 8–9. (2) Bouarfa’s assertion that the Secretary always revokes the agency’s approval of a visa petition if the agency later makes a sham- marriage determination makes no difference because Congress did not make the availability of judicial review dependent on agency practice. Rather, §1252(a)(2)(B)(ii) bars judicial review of decisions “made dis- cretionary by legislation.” Kucana v. Holder, 558 U. S. 233, 246–247 (emphasis added). Nor is it unreasonable to suggest that Congress Cite as: 604 U. S. ____ (2024) 3

created a system in which a sham-marriage determination is subject to judicial review when an agency denies a visa petition but not when the agency revokes a prior approval. That distinction “reflects Con- gress’ choice to provide reduced procedural protection for discretionary relief.” Patel v. Garland, 596 U. S. 328, 345. Pp. 9–11. (3) Precedent, likewise, does not mandate Bouarfa’s interpreta- tion. Unlike the discretionary determination at issue in Patel v. Gar- land, §1155’s revocation authorization has no “threshold require- ments” to access the relevant discretion, id., at 332, 347, so Patel does not help Bouarfa. Finally, because the presumption that administra- tive action is subject to judicial review may be overcome by “ ‘clear and convincing evidence’ of congressional intent to preclude judicial re- view,” Guerrero-Lasprilla v. Barr, 589 U. S. 221, 229, there is no need to resort to the presumption of reviewability where, as here, “the stat- ute is clear,” Patel, 596 U. S., at 347. Pp. 11–12. 75 F. 4th 1157, affirmed.

JACKSON, J., delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court. Cite as: 604 U. S. ____ (2024) 1

Opinion of the Court

NOTICE: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the United States Reports. Readers are requested to notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Washington, D. C. 20543, pio@supremecourt.gov, of any typographical or other formal errors.

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES _________________

No. 23–583 _________________

AMINA BOUARFA, PETITIONER v. ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY, ET AL. ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT [December 10, 2024]

JUSTICE JACKSON delivered the opinion of the Court.

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