Sale v. Haitian Centers Council, Inc., 509 U.S. 155, 14 (1993)

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168

SALE v. HAITIAN CENTERS COUNCIL, INC.

Opinion of the Court

the broad definition of the term "alien" in § 101(a)(3) 15 and

the plain language of § 243(h), from which the 1980 amendment had removed the words "within the United States." 16

The court reasoned that the text of the statute defeated the Eleventh Circuit's reliance on the placement of § 243(h)(1) in Part V of the INA (titled "Deportation; Adjustment of Status") as evidence that it applied only to aliens in the United States.17 Moreover, the Court of Appeals rejected the Government's suggestion that since § 243(h) restricted actions of the Attorney General only, it did not limit the President's

15 Section 101(a)(3), 8 U. S. C. § 1101(a)(3), provides: "The term 'alien' means any person not a citizen or national of the United States."

16 "Before 1980, § 243(h) distinguished between two groups of aliens: those 'within the United States', and all others. After 1980, § 243(h)(1) no longer recognized that distinction, although § 243(h)(2)(C) preserves it for the limited purposes of the 'serious nonpolitical crime' exception. The government's reading would require us to rewrite § 243(h)(1) into its pre-1980 status, but we may not add terms or provisions where congress has omitted them, see Gregory v. Ashcroft, [501 U. S. 452, 467] (1991); West Virginia Univ. Hosps., Inc. v. Casey, [499 U. S. 83, 101] (1991), and this restraint is even more compelling when congress has specifically removed a term from a statute: 'Few principles of statutory construction are more compelling than the proposition that Congress does not intend sub silentio to enact statutory language that it has earlier discarded.' Nachman Corp. v. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., 446 U. S. 359, 392-93 . . . (1980) (Stewart, J., dissenting) (quoted with approval in INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U. S. at 442-43 . . .). 'To supply omissions transcends the judicial function.' Iselin v. United States, 270 U. S. 245, 250 . . . (1926) (Brandeis, J.)." 969 F. 2d, at 1359.

17 "The statute's location in Part V reflects its original placement there before 1980—when § 243(h) applied by its terms only to 'deportation'. Since 1980, however, § 243(h)(1) has applied to more than just 'deportation'—it applies to 'return' as well (the former is necessarily limited to aliens 'in the United States', the latter applies to all aliens). Thus, § 243, which applies to all aliens, regardless of whereabouts, has broader application than most other portions of Part V, each of which is limited by its terms to aliens 'in' or 'within' the United States; but the fact that § 243 is surrounded by sections more limited in application has no bearing on the proper reading of § 243 itself." Id., at 1360.

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