Supreme Court: No Constitutional Right for U.S. Citizens to Bring in Non-Citizen Spouses

In a landmark 6-3 decision, the United States Supreme Court has ruled that American citizens do not have a constitutional right to bring their non-citizen spouses into the country. This decision reaffirms the extensive authority of Congress to set immigration limits and the executive branch’s role in enforcing these laws.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett, writing for the majority, stated, “We hold that a citizen does not have a fundamental liberty interest in her non-citizen spouse being admitted to the country.”

The case began with Sandra Munoz, a U.S. citizen, who sought to bring her husband, Luis Ascencio-Cordero, from El Salvador into the United States. His visa was denied by the State Department due to suspected ties to the violent gang Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), based on his tattoos.

Munoz argued that the visa denial infringed upon her marriage rights and sought the opportunity to contest the allegations against her husband. However, Justice Barrett emphasized that the harm Munoz experienced from the visa denial does not grant her a constitutional right to be involved in his consular process.

In dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor contended that the decision undermines the fundamental right to marriage recognized in the court’s landmark Obergefell ruling on same-sex marriages. She argued that Munoz has a constitutionally protected interest in her husband’s visa application, as its denial burdens her right to marriage, extending to building a home, intimacy, and raising children together.

This decision impacts thousands of similar cases, with last year’s statistics showing the State Department approved 11 million visas and denied 62,000 applications, including 5,400 for individuals seeking to join their U.S. citizen partners.

The case has united the Biden administration and proponents of stricter immigration enforcement, who argue that U.S. citizens lack the right to contest a spouse’s deportation in court and that it would be illogical to create additional rights for someone outside the U.S. entirely.