Kleindienst, Attorney General, et al. v. Mandel et al.

Decided June 29, 1972. Harry Andrew Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 71-16 · 408 U.S. 753 (1972) · Cited 952 times

Holding

In the exercise of Congress' plenary power to exclude aliens or prescribe the conditions for their entry into this country, Congress in 212(a)(28) of the Act has delegated conditional exercise of this power to the Executive Branch.

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.

“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.

• Lamont v. Postmaster General · 381 U.S. 301 (1965)
• Whitney v. California · 274 U.S. 357 (1927)
• Thomas v. Collins · 323 U.S. 516 (1945)
• Zemel v. Rusk · 381 U.S. 1 (1965)
• United States v. Robel · 389 U.S. 258 (1967)
• Galvan v. Press · 347 U.S. 522 (1954)
• The Chinese Exclusion Case · 130 U.S. 581 (1889)
• Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. Federal Communications Commission · 395 U.S. 367 (1969)
• Shelton v. Tucker · 364 U.S. 479 (1960)
• Stanley v. Georgia · 394 U.S. 557 (1969)
• Brandenburg v. Ohio · 395 U.S. 444 (1969)
• Harisiades v. Shaughnessy · 342 U.S. 580 (1952)
• Martin v. City of Struthers · 319 U.S. 141 (1943)
• Fong Yue Ting v. United States · 149 U.S. 698 (1893)
• Noto v. United States · 367 U.S. 290 (1961)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Button · 371 U.S. 415 (1963)
• Kirby v. Illinois · 406 U.S. 682 (1972)
• Garrison v. Louisiana · 379 U.S. 64 (1964)
• Keyishian v. Board of Regents of Univ. of State of NY · 385 U.S. 589 (1967)
• Graham v. Richardson · 403 U.S. 365 (1971)
• Terminiello v. Chicago · 337 U.S. 1 (1949)
• Epperson v. Arkansas · 393 U.S. 97 (1968)
• Shaughnessy v. United States Ex Rel. Mezei · 345 U.S. 206 (1953)
• Sweezy v. New Hampshire Ex Rel. Wyman · 354 U.S. 234 (1957)
• Aptheker v. Secretary of State · 378 U.S. 500 (1964)
• United States Ex Rel. Knauff v. Shaughnessy · 338 U.S. 537 (1950)
• Communist Party of United States v. Subversive Activities Control Bd. · 367 U.S. 1 (1961)
• Gibson v. Florida Legislative Investigation Committee · 372 U.S. 539 (1963)
• Nishimura Ekiu v. United States · 142 U.S. 651 (1892)
• Oceanic Steam Navigation Co. v. Stranahan · 214 U.S. 320 (1909)

Cited by

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

• Kerry v. Din · 576 U.S. 86 (2015)
• Department of State v. Munoz · 602 U.S. 899 (2024)
• Fiallo Ex Rel. Rodriguez v. Bell · 430 U.S. 787 (1977)
• Trump v. Hawaii · 585 U.S. 667 (2018)
• Pell v. Procunier · 417 U.S. 817 (1974)
• Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, Inc. · 425 U.S. 748 (1976)
• Board of Ed., Island Trees Union Free School Dist. No. 26 v. Pico · 457 U.S. 853 (1982)
• Houchins v. KQED, Inc. · 438 U.S. 1 (1978)
• Hampton v. Mow Sun Wong · 426 U.S. 88 (1976)
• Murthy v. Missouri · 603 U.S. 43 (2024)
• Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia · 448 U.S. 555 (1980)
• Almeida-Sanchez v. United States · 413 U.S. 266 (1973)
• Mathews v. Diaz · 426 U.S. 67 (1976)
• Jean v. Nelson · 472 U.S. 846 (1985)
• Miller v. Albright · 523 U.S. 420 (1998)
• Trump v. New York · 592 U.S. 125 (2020)
• Bell v. Wolfish · 441 U.S. 520 (1979)
• United States v. Brignoni-Ponce · 422 U.S. 873 (1975)
• Procunier v. Martinez · 416 U.S. 396 (1974)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Delgado · 466 U.S. 210 (1984)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Chadha · 462 U.S. 919 (1983)
• Young v. American Mini Theatres, Inc. · 427 U.S. 50 (1976)
• United States v. Valenzuela-Bernal · 458 U.S. 858 (1982)
• Demore v. Kim · 538 U.S. 510 (2003)
• Landon v. Plasencia · 459 U.S. 21 (1982)
• McConnell v. Federal Election Commission · 540 U.S. 93 (2003)
• Allentown MacK Sales & Service, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board · 522 U.S. 359 (1998)
• Renne v. Geary · 501 U.S. 312 (1991)
• United States Postal Service v. Council of Greenburgh Civic Associations · 453 U.S. 114 (1981)
• Negusie v. Holder · 555 U.S. 511 (2009)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1972). 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).