The Ninth Circuit has again foreclosed an APA challenge to the denial of waiver under 8 USC 212(d)(14) requested in connection with a U visa, finding that the waiver application is necessarily one committed to the discretion of the Secretary of Homeland Security.
“In rejecting his constitutional challenge to the INA, we emphasize that we do not decide today whether, or to what extent, Plaintiff can raise his claims in removal proceedings. Nor do we decide whether, if the immigration courts cannot review his claims, such a result would violate the Constitution. What we do decide is that, to the extent Plaintiff has a viable challenge to the discretionary decisions of the immigration authorities, the only place he can advance that claim is in removal proceedings and a subsequent petition for review in the court of appeals.”
The full text of Chairez v. Mayorkas can be found here: https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2026/03/05/24-4137.pdf