Back to Resources

SCOTUS Decision On Revocations

The US Supreme Court recently held that federal courts do not have jurisdiction to review revocations of approved petitions issued by USCIS. In Boufara v. Mayorkas, the Supreme Court found that when the USCIS takes action to revoke a previously approved petition, the subject of that petition cannot seek relief in a US court by suing the agency to state that the decision is arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act.

 

When USCIS denies a petition, the party that filed the petition can seek review in federal court to challenge the denial as unjustified based on the facts and applicable law. Meltzer Hellrung stands ready to handle this kind of litigation when petitions are unreasonably denied. We unfortunately expect to do more of this work with Trump returning to office.

 

While revocations are currently infrequent, this decision seems ripe for abuse by a dishonest agency. If the petition is first approved and then subsequently revoked “based” on perceived fraud or other issues, then there is no recourse in federal courts.

 

Only Congress can change this, as the Supreme Court’s decision was based on a review of the terms of the statute granting courts jurisdiction to review USCIS decisions.