Advancing Justice – ALC Heads to The Supreme Court!
On February 23, Advancing Justice – ALC client Fauzia Din’s case will be argued before the US Supreme Court in Kerry v. Din. For the past nine years, Ms. Din, a US citizen in Fremont, CA, has sought to reunite with her husband, an Afghan national based in Kabul.
In 2006, Ms. Din traveled to Afghanistan to marry a family friend. Soon after her wedding, she applied for her husband’s visa to the United States. After a nearly three-year delay, the State Department finally issued a response to the application: the visa was denied, and no reason was provided other than a vague “national security” allegation. Ms. Din is an in-home caretaker in Fremont. Her husband is a clerk in the Afghan Ministry of Education. The couple has no ties to any terrorist activity.
The State Department has insisted it has the right to deny visas without providing a reason for their denial. In 2013, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Kerry v. Din that the State Department was required to provide a legitimate basis for the denial. However, the Obama Administration has continued its efforts to keep the Din family apart, appealing the decision to the Supreme Court, which last October granted the request to hear the case.
Advancing Justice – ALC is co-counsel in this case along with Sidley Austin LLP. Read our respondent’s brief below.
Additionally, to read an Op-Ed about the case, written by our Executive Director, Chris Punongbayan please click here.(photo courtsey of Fauzia Din)
Media coverage:
1. SF Chronicle, Supreme Court to hear ‘national security’ case of visa denial
2. Los Angeles Times, Supreme Court will hear woman’s case on visa denial for Afghan husband
3. Associated Press, Court Seems Split Over Spouse’s Right to Protest Visa Denial
5. Washington Post, High court divided on refusal of a visa to a U.S. citizen’s Afghan spouse
6. Los Angeles Times, Supreme Court justices wary of expanded rights for new immigrants
7. Reuters, Supreme Court weighs case involving Afghan man barred from U.S.
8. NPR, Supreme Court Considers Visa Case For Foreign Spouses
9. New York Times, Justices Weigh Denial of Visa to Husband of U.S. Citizen
10. KQED, Supreme Court Takes up Whether Bay Area Woman is Owed Explanation for Husband’s Visa Denial