533US2
706
Unit: $U87
[10-21-02 18:35:10] PAGES PGT: OPIN
ZADVYDAS v. DAVIS
Kennedy, J., dissenting
edged, may be a significant one in some later case; but it
ought not to drive us to an incorrect interpretation of the
statute. The Court having reached the wrong result for the
wrong reason, this respectful dissent is required.
I
The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U. S. C.
§ 1101 et seq. (1994 ed. and Supp. V), is straightforward
enough. It provides:
“An alien ordered removed who is inadmissible under
section 1182 of this title, removable under section
1227(a)(1)(C), 1227(a)(2), or 1227(a)(4) of this title or who
has been determined by the Attorney General to be a
risk to the community or unlikely to comply with the
order of removal, may be detained beyond the removal
period and, if released, shall be subject to the terms of
supervision in paragraph (3).” 8 U. S. C. § 1231(a)(6)
(1994 ed., Supp. V).
By this statute, Congress confers upon the Attorney General discretion to detain an alien ordered removed. It gives
express authorization to detain “beyond the removal period.” Ibid. The class of removed aliens detainable under
the section includes aliens who were inadmissible and aliens
subject to final orders of removal, provided they are a risk
to the community or likely to flee. The issue to be determined is whether the authorization to detain beyond the removal period is subject to the implied, nontextual limitation
that the detention be no longer than reasonably necessary to
effect removal to another country. The majority invokes the
canon of constitutional doubt to read that implied term into
the statute. One can accept the premise that a substantial
constitutional question is presented by the prospect of
lengthy, even unending, detention in some instances; but the
statutory construction the Court adopts should be rejected
in any event. The interpretation has no basis in the lan-