In Department of State v. Sandra Munoz, decided last month, the Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision authored by Justice Amy Coney Barrett held that a U.S. citizen does not have a liberty interest in her noncitizen spouse being admitted into the country. The case seemed like a minor variant in the complex, convoluted and byzantine U.S. immigration system.

The court could have decided the case on the narrow ground that excluding a noncitizen from the country can burden the constitutional rights of citizens who seek his presence. But following the long-standing precedent of Kleindienst v. Mandel (1972), if the government provides a facially legitimate and good-faith reason for the exclusion, it will have satisfied its burden and the case is over.