Supreme Court Visa Denial Case Risks Slamming Door on Appeals

A brief interview was all it took for Luis Asencio Cordero to be blocked from rejoining his American wife in the US.

At the US Consulate in San Salvador in May 2015, the immigration officer asked him to take off his shirt. Asencio complied, revealing his tattoos. The officer asked if he was a gang member. Asencio said no.

Asencio later got a letter denying him a visa to rejoin his wife, Sandra Muñoz, because of alleged “unlawful activity.” The couple believed that Asencio’s tattoos triggered the immigration officer’s suspicions of a gang affiliation, according to court documents.

The couple’s ...