Cite as: 509 U. S. 155 (1993)
Blackmun, J., dissenting
the Haitian refugees is perfectly legal, because the word "return" does not mean return, ante, at 174, 180-182, because the opposite of "within the United States" is not outside the United States, ante, at 175, and because the official charged with controlling immigration has no role in enforcing an order to control immigration, ante, at 171-173.
I believe that the duty of nonreturn expressed in both the Protocol and the statute is clear. The majority finds it "extraordinary," ante, at 176, that Congress would have intended the ban on returning "any alien" to apply to aliens at sea. That Congress would have meant what it said is not remarkable. What is extraordinary in this case is that the Executive, in disregard of the law, would take to the seas to intercept fleeing refugees and force them back to their persecutors—and that the Court would strain to sanction that conduct.
I
I begin with the Convention,1 for it is undisputed that the Refugee Act of 1980 was passed to conform our law to Article 33, and that "the nondiscretionary duty imposed by § 243(h) parallels the United States' mandatory nonrefoulement obligations under Article 33.1 . . . ." INS v. Doherty, 502 U. S. 314, 331 (1992) (Scalia, J., concurring in judgment in part and dissenting in part). See also Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U. S., at 429, 436-437, 440; Stevic, 467 U. S., at 418, 421. The Convention thus constitutes the backdrop against which the statute must be understood.2
1 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, July 28, 1951, 19 U. S. T. 6259, 189 U. N. T. S. 150, T. I. A. S. No. 6577. Because the Protocol to which the United States acceded incorporated the Convention's Article 33, I shall follow the form of the majority, see ante, at 169, n. 19, and shall refer throughout this dissent (unless the distinction is relevant) only to the Convention.
2 This Court has recognized that Article 33 has independent force. See, e. g., INS v. Stevic, 467 U. S., at 428-430, n. 22 (By modifying his discretionary practice, Attorney General " 'implemented' " and "honor[ed]" the Protocol's requirements). Because I agree with the near-universal under-
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