Gene McNary, Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization, et al. v. Haitian Refugee Center, Inc., et al.

Decided February 20, 1991. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 89-1332 · 498 U.S. 479 (1991) · Cited 609 times

Holding

The District Court had federal-question jurisdiction to hear respondents' constitutional and statutory challenges to the INS procedures.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 7–2.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Heckler v. Ringer · 466 U.S. 602 (1984)
• Bowen v. Michigan Academy of Family Physicians · 476 U.S. 667 (1986)
• United States v. Erika, Inc. · 456 U.S. 201 (1982)
• United States v. Fausto · 484 U.S. 439 (1988)
• Jean v. Nelson · 472 U.S. 846 (1985)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Pangilinan · 486 U.S. 875 (1988)
• Whitney National Bank in Jefferson Parish v. Bank of New Orleans & Trust Co. · 379 U.S. 411 (1965)
• United States v. Ginsberg · 243 U.S. 472 (1917)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Reno v. Catholic Social Services, Inc. · 509 U.S. 43 (1993)
• Shalala v. Illinois Council on Long Term Care, Inc. · 529 U.S. 1 (2000)
• Guerrero-Lasprilla v. Barr · 589 U.S. 221 (2020)
• Elgin v. Department of the Treasury · 567 U.S. 1 (2012)
• Kucana v. Holder · 558 U.S. 233 (2010)
• Thunder Basin Coal Co. v. Reich · 510 U.S. 200 (1994)
• Thryv, Inc. v. Click-To-Call Technologies, LP · 590 U.S. 45 (2020)
• Reno v. American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee · 525 U.S. 471 (1999)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. St. Cyr · 533 U.S. 289 (2001)
• Rowland v. California Men's Colony, Unit II Men's Advisory Council · 506 U.S. 194 (1993)
• King v. St. Vincent's Hospital · 502 U.S. 215 (1991)
• United States Department of Energy v. Ohio · 503 U.S. 607 (1992)
• Touby v. United States · 500 U.S. 160 (1991)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1991). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).