Nigerian-Americans seeking to bring their spouses into the country suffer major setback

NIGERIAN-Americans intending on bringing their partners into the country may have suffered a significant setback yesterday after the US Supreme Court ruled against the constitutional rights of US citizens to sue over visa denial for their foreign spouses.

In a surprise development, the court delivered the ruling in a six to three verdict in the case between the Department of State  and Sandra Munoz, with case file number 23-334. According to experts, what the judgment means is that constitutional rights of US citizens are not violated when the government bars their non-citizen spouses from entering the country without explanation.

This ruling could have an impact on Nigerian-Americans who are US citizens who want to bring their Nigerian spouses into the country. Historically in the US, visa denials are not reviewable in court unless the government violates an applicant’s constitutional rights in the process.

Following yesterday's ruling, Ms Munoz, a US citizen and civil rights lawyer, cannot challenge the US Department of State’s denial of her El Salvadoran husband’s visa application after the agency waited three years to explain that it suspected him of being a gang member. Ms Munoz and her husband, who she married in 2010 and with whom she has a child, have been separated since 2015, according to court filings.

Yesterday, the Supreme Court rejected Ms Munoz’s claim that the delay in explaining the denial violated her due process rights by interfering with her fundamental right to marry. On behalf of the court, Justice Amy Coney Barrett said her claim involves more than marriage and more than spousal cohabitation, as it includes the right to have her non-citizen husband enter and remain in the US.

This latest ruling reverses a 2022 decision by the San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals that revived Munoz’s lawsuit against the State Department. Yesterday, the Immigration Reform Law Institute, a conservative group that filed a brief backing the State Department, praised the ruling.

Dale Wilcox, the group’s executive director and general counsel, said: “To hold for this couple would let those Americans who choose to marry dangerous aliens force their choice on the rest of us.”

Meanwhile, Justice Sonia Sotomayor joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson gave a dissenting minority verdict on the matter. Justice Sotomayor wrote:  “There is no question that excluding a citizen’s spouse burdens her right to marriage and that burden requires the government to provide at least a factual basis for its decision."