Amy Coney Barrett on Immigration

Counting undocumented is long-standing Census practice

Since the census started in 1790, its practice has been to count all people living in the U.S. Currently, an estimated 11 million unauthorized immigrants are living in this country. The point of counting everyone was raised by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who told the Acting Solicitor General who was representing the Trump administration: "A lot of the historical evidence and long-standing practice really cuts against your position."

Let embassies abroad reject visas for any reason

A dissenting judge would have required the government to "point to some factual support for the consular officer's decision." Under Supreme Court precedent, however, visa denials are subject to only a very limited level of review by federal courts, even when U.S. citizens challenge the denials on constitutional grounds. Nonetheless, Supreme Court precedent is arguably unclear about the circumstances for factual support before rejecting challenges to visa denials.

Judge Barrett's decision in Yafai may suggest that she takes an expansive view of executive exclusion authority and a narrower view of the federal judiciary's role.