Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/21-954_7l48.pdf
Page Number: 34.0

Cite as:  597 U. S. ____ (2022) 

1 

ALITO, J., dissenting 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

_________________ 

No. 21–954 
_________________ 

JOSEPH R. BIDEN, JR., PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED 
STATES, ET AL., PETITIONERS v. TEXAS, ET AL. 

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF 
APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT 

[June 30, 2022]

 JUSTICE  ALITO,  with  whom  JUSTICE  THOMAS  and 

JUSTICE GORSUCH join, dissenting. 

In fiscal year 2021, the Border Patrol reported more than
1.7 million encounters with aliens along the Mexican bor-
der.1  When it appears that one of these aliens is not admis-
sible, may the Government simply release the alien in this
country and hope that the alien will show up for the hearing 
at which his or her entitlement to remain will be decided? 

for  a 

[removal]  proceeding.” 

Congress  has  provided  a  clear  answer  to  that  question, 
and the answer is no.  By law, if an alien is “not clearly and 
beyond a doubt entitled to be admitted,” the alien “shall be 
detained 
8  U. S. C. 
§1225(b)(2)(A) (emphasis added).  And if an alien asserts a 
credible fear of persecution, he or she “shall be detained for 
further  consideration  of  the  application  for  asylum,” 
§1225(b)(1)(B)(ii)  (emphasis  added).  Those  requirements, 
as  we  have  held,  are  mandatory.   See  Jennings  v.  Rodri-
guez, 583 U. S. ___, ___ (2018) (slip op., at 13). 

Congress  offered  the  Executive  two—and  only  two—al-
ternatives  to  detention.  First,  if  an  alien  is  “arriving  on 
land”  from  “a  foreign  territory  contiguous  to  the  United 

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1 U. S.  Customs  and  Border  Protection,  Southwest  Land  Border  En-
counters, FY Southwest Land Border Encounters by Month (chart) (May
3,  2022),  https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/southwest-land-border-
encounters (showing 1,734,686 total encounters in fiscal year 2021).