Kerry v. Din

135 S.Ct. 2128 (2015)

Facts

P came to the United States as a refugee in 2000, and became a naturalized citizen in 2007. She filed a petition to have Kanishka Berashk, whom she married in 2006, classified as her immediate relative. Her husband, Kanishka Berashk, is an Afghan citizen and former civil servant in the Taliban regime who resides in that country. The petition was granted, and Berashk filed a visa application. The U. S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, interviewed Berashk and denied his application. A consular officer informed Berashk that he was inadmissible under §1182(a)(3)(B) but provided no further explanation. P sued the federal government seeking a writ of mandamus directing the United States to properly adjudicate Berashk’s visa application; a declaratory judgment that 8 U.S.C. §1182(b)(2)-(3), which exempts the Government from providing notice to an alien found inadmissible under the terrorism bar, is unconstitutional as applied; and a declaratory judgment that the denial violated the Administrative Procedure Act. The District Court granted the Government’s motion to dismiss, but the Ninth Circuit reversed. The Ninth Circuit concluded that P “has a protected liberty interest in marriage that entitled [her] to a review of the denial of [her] spouse’s visa,” and that the Government’s citation of §1182(a)(3)(B) did not provide P with the “limited judicial review” to which she was entitled under the Due Process Clause. The Government appealed.