Justices to Review DOL Agency Judges’ Power Over Work Visas (1)

The US Supreme Court will take up a case involving internal Labor Department judges’ enforcement authority over a seasonal work visa program.

The agency sought review of a court loss from last year in which the Third Circuit held that administrative law judges don’t have power to enforce violations of the H-2A visa program for seasonal agricultural workers.

Sun Valley Orchards LLC had sued the department to overturn half a million dollars in penalties connected to the program, arguing that the DOL law judge system was unconstitutional under Supreme Court precedent in SEC v. Jarkesy.

Myriad challenges to ALJ decisions have been brought by businesses against regulatory agencies since that ruling, which found defendants are entitled to a trial in an Article III federal court when they’re faced with civil penalties. The Sun Valley case tested the scope of a “public rights” exception in the Jarkesy decision, which allowed agencies to continue enforcement involving matters like tariffs and immigration outside of Article III courts.

The court granted a petition for a writ of certiorari limited to whether the DOL is authorized under Article III of the Constitution or the Immigration and Nationality Act from adjudicating violations involving the H-2A program.

A US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit panel found that labor certification regulations under the H-2A program don’t involve the “the admission and exclusion of aliens,” but rather domestic policy issues like protection of wages and working conditions for US-born workers.

The DOL is represented by the Solicitor General. Sun Valley is represented by the Institute for Justice.

The case is DOL vs. Sun Valley Orchards, LLC, U.S., No. 25-966, cert granted 4/27/26.