Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Jairo Jonathan Elias-Zacarias
Decided January 22, 1992. Antonin Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 90-1342 · 502 U.S. 478 (1992) · Cited 8,324 times
Holding
A guerrilla organization’s attempt to coerce a person into performing military service does not necessarily constitute “persecution on account of...political opinion” under § 101(a)(42) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.
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 6–3.
Majority · 6
- Antonin Scalia · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy
- Byron Raymond White
- Clarence Thomas
- David Hackett Souter
- William Hubbs Rehnquist
Dissenting · 3
- Harry Andrew Blackmun
- John Paul Stevens · filed a dissenting opinion
- Sandra Day O'Connor
“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.
- Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Cardoza-Fonseca · 480 U.S. 421 (1987)
- Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Stevic · 467 U.S. 407 (1984)
- Richards v. United States · 369 U.S. 1 (1962)
- National Labor Relations Board v. Columbian Enameling & Stamping Co. · 306 U.S. 292 (1939)
- Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Phinpathya · 464 U.S. 183 (1984)
- Fong Haw Tan v. Phelan · 333 U.S. 6 (1948)
- Costello v. Immigration & Naturalization Service · 376 U.S. 120 (1964)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Nasrallah v. Barr · 590 U.S. 573 (2020)
- Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Ventura · 537 U.S. 12 (2002)
- Garland v. Ming Dai · 593 U.S. 357 (2021)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
Explore from here
Antonin Scalia’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1992). 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).