Cite as: 538 U. S. 510 (2003)
Opinion of Souter, J.
Kim may continue to claim the benefit of his current status unless and until it is terminated by a final order of removal. 8 CFR § 1.1(p) (2002). He may therefore claim the due process to which a lawful permanent resident is entitled.
II
A
It has been settled for over a century that all aliens within our territory are "persons" entitled to the protection of the Due Process Clause. Aliens "residing in the United States for a shorter or longer time, are entitled, so long as they are permitted by the government of the United States to remain in the country, to the safeguards of the Constitution, and to the protection of the laws, in regard to their rights of person and of property, and to their civil and criminal responsibility." Fong Yue Ting v. United States, 149 U. S. 698, 724 (1893). The Japanese Immigrant Case, 189 U. S. 86, 100- 101 (1903), settled any lingering doubt that the Fifth Amend-ment's Due Process Clause gives aliens a right to challenge mistreatment of their person or property.
The constitutional protection of an alien's person and property is particularly strong in the case of aliens lawfully
e. g., § 1229b. An alien is not adjudged "deportable" until an order enters "concluding that the alien is deportable or ordering deportation," and such an order is not final until affirmed by the Board of Immigration Appeals or until the time expires for seeking review. §§ 1101(a)(47)(A)-(B). To suggest, as the Court seems to do, that an alien has conceded removability simply because he does not dispute that he has been charged with facts that will render him removable if those facts are later proven is like saying that a civil defendant has conceded liability by failing to move to dismiss the complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) or that a criminal defendant has conceded guilt by failing to dispute the validity of the indictment. But even if the Court's reasoning were sound, it would not cover Kim's situation, for he has stated (and the Court acknowledges) his intent to contest the sufficiency of his criminal convictions as a basis for removal. Ante, at 522-523, n. 6. This discussion, which the Court calls a "detour," ante, at 523, is necessary only because of the Court's insistence in stating that Kim conceded that he is "deportable." Ante, at 513, 522, 531.
543
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