Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/17pdf/17-965_h315.pdf
Page Number: 26

Cite as:  585 U. S. ____ (2018) 

21 

Opinion of the Court 

in  the  issuance  of  an  immigrant  visa  because  of  the  per-
son’s  race,  sex,  nationality,  place  of  birth,  or  place  of 
residence.”    They  contend  that  we  should  interpret  the
provision  as  prohibiting  nationality-based  discrimination 
throughout  the  entire  immigration  process,  despite  the 
reference  in  §1152(a)(1)(A)  to  the  act  of  visa  issuance 
alone.    Specifically,  plaintiffs  argue  that  §1152(a)(1)(A) 
applies  to  the  predicate  question  of  a  visa  applicant’s
eligibility  for  admission  and  the  subsequent  question 
whether the holder of a visa may in fact enter the country.
Any other conclusion, they say, would allow the President 
to  circumvent  the  protections  against  discrimination 
enshrined in §1152(a)(1)(A).

As an initial matter, this argument challenges only the
validity  of  the  entry  restrictions  on  immigrant  travel. 
Section  1152(a)(1)(A)  is  expressly  limited  to  the  issuance
of  “immigrant  visa[s]”  while  §1182(f )  allows  the  Presi-
dent to suspend entry of  “immigrants or nonimmigrants.” 
At  a  minimum,  then,  plaintiffs’  reading  would  not  affect 
any  of  the  limitations  on  nonimmigrant  travel  in  the 
Proclamation. 

In any event, we reject plaintiffs’ interpretation because
it  ignores  the  basic  distinction  between  admissibility
determinations  and  visa  issuance  that  runs  throughout
the INA.3  Section 1182 defines the pool of individuals who 

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3 The  Act  is  rife  with  examples  distinguishing  between  the  two  con-
cepts.  See,  e.g.,  8  U. S. C.  §1101(a)(4)  (“The  term  ‘application  for
admission’  has  reference  to  the  application  for  admission  into  the 
United  States  and  not  to  the  application  for  the  issuance  of  an  immi-
grant or nonimmigrant visa.”); §1182(a) (“ineligible to receive visas and
ineligible  to  be  admitted”);  §1182(a)(3)(D)(iii)  (“establishes  to  the
satisfaction of the consular officer when applying for a visa . . . or to the 
satisfaction  of  the  Attorney  General  when  applying  for  admission”);
§1182(h)(1)(A)(i)  (“alien’s  application  for  a  visa,  admission,  or  adjust-
ment of status”); §1187 (permitting entry without a visa); §1361 (estab-
lishing burden of proof for when a person “makes application for a visa
. . . , or makes application for admission, or otherwise attempts to enter