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Keywords

jurisdictionappealvisacitizenship
jurisdictionappealvisacitizenship

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Ghanem v. Upchurch

Facts

In 2002, Sandy Ghanem, a citizen of the United States, married Ayed Ghanem, a citizen of Jordan. Sandy filed an immigrant visa petition on behalf of Ayed, which was approved in 2004. Subsequently, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS), a division of the Department of Homeland Security, initiated proceedings to revoke the visa and served her with a 'Notice of Intent to Revoke.' After Sandy responded to the notice, the CIS revoked the previously approved visa. The Ghanems appealed the CIS's decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), which affirmed the decision to revoke without an opinion. The Ghanems filed a complaint for review of the revocation of the visa in district court, which ruled that it lacked jurisdiction over the complaint and dismissed it.

In 2002, Sandy Ghanem, a citizen of the United States, married Ayed Ghanem, a citizen of Jordan. Sandy filed an immigrant visa petition on behalf of Ayed, which was approved in 2004. Subsequently, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS), a division of the Department of Homeland Security, initiated proceedings to revoke the visa and served her with a 'Notice of Intent to Revoke.'

Issue

Whether the decision of the Secretary of Homeland Security to revoke a visa pursuant to 8 U.S.C. section 1155 is discretionary, thus stripping this Court of jurisdiction to review the decision.

The sole argument raised on this appeal is whether the decision of the Secretary of Homeland Security to revoke a visa pursuant to 8 U.S.C. section 1155 is discretionary, thus stripping this Court of jurisdiction to review the decision.

Rule

The statutory language indicates that the decision to revoke a visa is left to the discretion of the Secretary of Homeland Security, as specified under 8 U.S.C. 1155.

The statutory language indicates that the decision is left to the discretion of the Secretary.

Analysis

The court followed the lead of the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Third and Seventh Circuits in concluding that the statutory language of 8 U.S.C. 1155 indicated that the decision to revoke a visa was left to the discretion of the Secretary of Homeland Security. The court interpreted the phrase 'for what he deems to be good and sufficient cause' as vesting complete discretion in the Secretary to determine what constitutes good and sufficient cause, thus affirming the district court's dismissal for lack of jurisdiction.

We follow the lead of the Third and Seventh Circuits. The statutory language indicates that the decision is left to the discretion of the Secretary. The only language that indicates that the discretion could be limited is the 'good and sufficient cause' phrase.

Conclusion

The court affirmed the decision of the district court, concluding that the district court correctly dismissed the claim for lack of jurisdiction.

For the above reasons, the judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.

Who won?

The prevailing party is the Secretary of Homeland Security, as the court upheld the district court's dismissal for lack of jurisdiction based on the discretionary nature of the visa revocation.

The court affirmed the decision of the district court, concluding that the district court correctly dismissed the claim for lack of jurisdiction.

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