Immigration and Naturalization Service, et al. v. National Center for Immigrants' Rights, Inc., et al. (502 U.S. 183)

U.S. Supreme Court · decided December 16, 1991 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)

Citation
502 U.S. 183 · 112 S. Ct. 551
Decided
December 16, 1991
Term
October Term 1991
Vote
9–0
Majority author
Justice Stevens
Issue area
Civil Rights
Disposition
Reversed and remanded
Outcome
Petitioning party won
Ideological direction
Conservative

Opinion excerpt

Justice Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court. This case presents a narrow question of statutory construction. Section 242(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) authorizes the Attorney General to arrest excludable aliens and, pending a determination of their deportability, either to hold them in custody or to release them on bond “containing such conditions as the Attorney General may prescribe.” 66 Stat. 208, as amended, 8 U. S. C. § 1252(a)(1). We granted the Government's petition for cer-tiorari to decide "[w]hether th[at] provision prohibits promulgation of a rule generally requiring that release bonds contain a condition forbidding unauthorized employment pending determination of deportability." Pet. for Cert. I. I Prior to 1983, the regulations of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) provided that, when an alien was released from custody pending deportation or exclusion proceedings, the INS could in its discretion include in the bond obtained to secure the alien's release a condition barring unauthorized employment. 8 CFR § 103.6(a)(2)(ii) (1982). In 1983, the Attorney General amended those regulations to include the following provision: "(ii) Condition against unauthorized employment. A condition barring employment shall be included in an appearance and delivery bond in connection with a deportation proceeding or bond posted for the release…

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