Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/17pdf/17-965_h315.pdf
Page Number: 27.0

22 

TRUMP v. HAWAII 

Opinion of the Court 

are admissible to the United States.  Its restrictions come 
into play at two points in the process of gaining entry (or 
admission)4 into the United States.  First, any alien who is 
inadmissible  under  §1182  (based  on,  for  example,  health
risks,  criminal  history,  or  foreign  policy  consequences)  is
screened  out  as  “ineligible  to  receive  a  visa.”    8  U. S. C. 
§1201(g).  Second,  even  if  a  consular  officer issues  a  visa, 
entry into the United States is not guaranteed.  As every
visa  application  explains,  a  visa  does  not  entitle  an  alien
to enter the United States “if, upon arrival,” an immigra-
tion officer determines that the applicant is “inadmissible 
under  this  chapter,  or  any  other  provision  of  law”—
including §1182(f ).  §1201(h). 
  Sections  1182(f )  and  1152(a)(1)(A)  thus  operate  in  dif-
ferent spheres: Section 1182 defines the universe of aliens
who  are  admissible  into  the  United  States  (and  therefore 
eligible to receive a visa).  Once §1182 sets the boundaries
of  admissibility  into  the  United  States,  §1152(a)(1)(A) 
prohibits  discrimination  in  the  allocation  of  immigrant
visas  based  on  nationality  and  other  traits.    The  distinc-
tion  between  admissibility—to  which  §1152(a)(1)(A)  does 
not apply—and visa issuance—to which it does—is appar-
ent from the text of the provision, which specifies only that 
its  protections  apply  to  the  “issuance”  of  “immigrant  vi-
sa[s],”  without  mentioning  admissibility  or  entry.    Had 
Congress  instead  intended  in  §1152(a)(1)(A)  to  constrain
the  President’s  power  to  determine  who  may  enter  the
country,  it  could  easily  have  chosen  language  directed  to
that end.  See, e.g., §§1182(a)(3)(C)(ii), (iii) (providing that 
certain  aliens  “shall  not  be  excludable  or  subject  to  re-
strictions  or  conditions  on  entry  . . .  because  of  the  alien’s 

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the United States”). 

4 The  concepts  of  entry  and  admission—but  not  issuance  of  a  visa—
are  used  interchangeably  in  the  INA.  See  §1101(a)(13)(A)  (defining
“admission” as the “lawful entry of the alien into the United States”).