334
Stevens, J., dissenting
U. S. 194, 199 (1957). See also INS v. National Center for Immigrants' Rights, Inc., 502 U. S. 183 (1991) (NCIR).
Our cases interpreting § 242(a) suggest that two such "considerations" are paramount: indications of congressional policy, and the principle that "a restrictive meaning must be given if a broader meaning would generate constitutional doubts." Witkovich, 353 U. S., at 199. Thus, in Carlson v. Landon, 342 U. S. 524 (1952), we upheld the Attorney General's detention of deportable members of the Communist Party, relying heavily on the fact that Congress had enacted legislation, the Internal Security Act of 1950, based on its judgment that Communist subversion threatened the Nation. Id., at 538. The Attorney General's discretionary decision to detain certain alien Communists was thus "wholly consistent with Congress' intent," NCIR, 502 U. S., at 194 (summarizing Court's analysis in Carlson). Just last Term, we faced the question whether the Attorney General acted within his authority in requiring that release bonds issued pursuant to § 242(a) contain a condition forbidding unauthorized employment pending determination of deportability. See NCIR, supra. Relying on related statutes and the "often recognized" principle that "a primary purpose in restricting immigration is to preserve jobs for American workers," id., at 194, and n. 8 (internal quotation marks omitted), we held that the regulation was "wholly consistent with this established concern of immigration law and thus squarely within the scope of the Attorney General's statutory authority." Ibid. Finally, in Witkovich, the Court construed a provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act which made it a criminal offense for an alien subject to deportation to willfully fail to provide to the Attorney General " 'information . . . as to his nationality, circumstances, habits, associations, and activities, and such other information . . . as the Attorney General may deem fit and proper.' " 353 U. S., at 195. Noting that "issues touching liberties that the Constitution safeguards, even for an alien 'person,' would fairly be
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