This is a list of Supreme Court of the United States cases in the area of immigration law and naturalization law.

This list is a list solely of United States Supreme Court decisions about applying immigration and naturalization law. Not all Supreme Court decisions are ultimately influential and, as in other fields, not all important decisions are made at the Supreme Court level. Many federal courts issue rulings that are significant or come to be influential, but those are outside the scope of this list.

18th Century

• Talbot v. Janson, 3 U.S. (3 Dall.) 133 (1795)

19th Century

• Passenger Cases (Smith v. Turner; Norris v. Boston), 48 U.S. (7 How.) 283 (1849)
• Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393 (1857)
• Slaughter-House Cases, 83 U.S. (16 Wall.) 36 (1873)
• Chy Lung v. Freeman, 92 U.S. 275 (1876) – The power to set rules around immigration and foreign relations rests with the federal government rather than with state governments.
• Elk v. Wilkins, 112 U.S. 94 (1884) – Court held that even though Elk was born in the United States, he was not a citizen because he owed allegiance to his tribe when he was born rather than to the U.S. and therefore was not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States when he was born.
• Head Money Cases (aka Edye v. Robertson), 112 U.S. 580 (1884)
• Cheong Ah Moy v. United States, 113 U.S. 216 (1885)
• Chae Chan Ping v. United States, 130 U.S. 581 (1889)
• Nishimura Ekiu v. United States, 142 U.S. 651 (1892)
• Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States, 143 U.S. 457 (1892)
• Lau Ow Bew v. United States, 144 U.S. 47 (1892)
• Fong Yue Ting v. United States, 149 U.S. 698 (1893)
• Wong Wing v. United States, 163 U.S. 228 (1896)
• United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649 (1898)

20th Century

• Yamataya v. Fisher, 189 U.S. 86 (1903) (also known as the "Japanese Immigrant Case")
• Cross v. United States, 242 U.S. 4 (1916)
• Takao Ozawa v. United States, 260 U.S. 178 (1922)
• Yamashita v. Hinkle, 260 U.S. 199 (1922)
• United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind, 261 U.S. 204 (1923)
• Terrace v. Thompson, 263 U.S. 197 (1923)

• Porterfield v. Webb, 263 U.S. 225 (1923)
• Webb v. O'Brien, 263 U.S. 313 (1923) – Overturning a lower court decision, the Supreme Court upheld a ban on cropping contracts, which technically dealt with labor rather than land and were used by many Issei to avoid the restrictions of California's alien land act.

• Chung Fook v. White, 264 U.S. 443 (1924)
• United States v. Schwimmer, 279 U.S. 644 (1929) – Denied an applicant entry to the United States because of her pacifist beliefs
• Perkins v. Elg, 307 U.S. 325 (1939)
• Hines v. Davidowitz, 312 U.S. 52 (1941)
• Girouard v. United States, 328 U.S. 61 (1946) – Overruled United States v. Schwimmer, 279 U.S. 644 (1929)
• Oyama v. California, 332 U.S. 633 (1948)
• Takahashi v. Fish and Game Comm'n, 334 U.S. 410 (1948)

• Kawakita v. United States, 343 U.S. 717 (1952)
• Mandoli v. Acheson, 344 U.S. 133 (1952)
• Kwong Hai Chew v. Colding, 344 U.S. 590 (1953)
• Trop v. Dulles, 356 U.S. 86 (1958) – revoking citizenship as a punishment for desertion violates the 8th Amendment
• Nishikawa v. Dulles, 356 U.S. 129 (1958)
• Perez v. Brownell, 356 U.S. 44 (1958) – affirmed the provision revoking the citizenship of any American who had voted in an election in a foreign country, as a legitimate exercise (under the Constitution's Necessary and Proper Clause) of Congress' authority to regulate foreign affairs and avoid potentially embarrassing diplomatic situations
• Flemming v. Nestor, 363 U.S. 603 (1960)
• Kennedy v. Mendoza-Martinez, 372 U.S. 144 (1963) – the Court struck down a law revoking citizenship for remaining outside the United States in order to avoid conscription into the armed forces
• Schneider v. Rusk, 377 U.S. 163 (1964) – the Court invalidated a provision revoking the citizenship of naturalized citizens who returned to live permanently in their countries of origin
• Boutilier v. Immigration and Naturalization Service, 387 U.S. 118 (1967)
• Afroyim v. Rusk, 387 U.S. 253 (1967)
• Rogers v. Bellei, 401 U.S. 815 (1971)
• Kleindienst v. Mandel, 408 U.S. 753 (1972)
• Espinoza v. Farah Mfg. Co., 414 U.S. 86 (1973)
• United States v. Brignoni-Ponce, 422 U.S. 873 (1975)
• De Canas v. Bica, 424 U.S. 351 (1976) – employment regulation, even of aliens unlawfully present in the country, is an area of traditional state concern; arguably overruled by Arizona v. United States, 567 U.S. 387 (2012)
• Vance v. Terrazas, 444 U.S. 252 (1980)
• Fedorenko v. United States, 449 U.S. 490 (1981)
• Haig v. Agee, 453 U.S. 280 (1981)
• Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202 (1982)
• Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha, 462 U.S. 919 (1983)
• Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Stevic, 467 U.S. 407 (1984)
• Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. 421 (1987)
• Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Abudu, 485 U.S. 94 (1988)
• Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Elias-Zacarias, 502 U.S. 478 (1992)
• Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Doherty, 502 U.S. 314 (1992)
• Reno v. Flores, 507 U.S. 292 (1993)
• Sale v. Haitian Centers Council, 509 U.S. 155 (1993)
• Miller v. Albright, 523 U.S. 420 (1998) – upheld the validity of laws relating to U.S. citizenship at birth for children born outside the United States, out of wedlock, to an American parent.
• Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Aguirre-Aguirre, 526 U.S. 415 (1999)

21st Century

• Nguyen v. INS, 533 U.S. 53 (2001)
• Immigration and Naturalization Service v. St. Cyr, 533 U.S. 289 (2001)
• Zadvydas v. Davis, 533 U.S. 678 (2001)
• Hoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board, 535 U.S. 137 (2002)
• Leocal v. Ashcroft, 543 U.S. 1 (2004)
• Clark v. Martinez, 543 U.S. 371 (2004)
• Gonzales v. Thomas, 547 U.S. 183 (2006)
• Fernandez-Vargas v. Gonzales, 548 U.S. 30 (2006)
• Lopez v. Gonzales, 549 U.S. 47 (2006)
• Gonzales v. Duenas-Alvare, 549 U.S. 183 (2007)
• Dada v. Mukasey, 554 U.S. 1 (2008)
• Negusie v. Holder, 555 U.S. 511 (2009)
• Nken v. Holder, 556 U.S. 418 (2009)
• Nijhawan v. Holder, 557 U.S. 29 (2009)
• Kucana v. Holder, 558 U.S. 233 (2010)
• Padilla v. Commonwealth of Kentucky, 559 U.S. 356 (2010)
• Carachuri-Rosendo v. Holder, 560 U.S. 563 (2010)
• Judulang v. Holder, 565 U.S. 42 (2011)
• Chamber of Commerce v. Whiting, 563 U.S. 582 (2012)
• Kawashima v. Holder, 565 U.S. 478 (2012)
• Zivotofsky v. Clinton, 566 U.S. 189 (2012)
• Vartelas v. Holder, 566 U.S. 257 (2012)
• Holder v. Martinez Gutierrez, 566 U.S. 583 (2012)
• Arizona v. United States, 567 U.S. 387 (2012)
• Moncrieffe v. Holder, 569 U.S. 184 (2013)
• Scialabba v. de Osorio, 573 U.S. 41 (2014)
• Mellouli v. Lynch, No. 13-1034, 575 U.S. ___ (2015)
• Zivotofsky v. Kerry, No. 13-628, 576 U.S. ___ (2015)
• Kerry v. Din, No. 13-1402, 576 U.S. ___ (2015)
• Reyes Mata v. Lynch, No. 14-185, 576 U.S. ___ (2015)
• Molina-Martinez v. United States, No. 14-8913, 578 U.S. ___ (2016)
• Luna Torres v. Lynch, No. 14-1096, 578 U.S. ___ (2016)
• United States v. Texas, No. 15-674, 579 U.S. ___ (2016)
• Esquivel-Quintana v. Sessions, No. 16-54, 581 U.S. ___ (2017)
• Sessions v. Morales-Santana, No. 15-1191, 582 U.S. ___ (2017)
• Maslenjak v. United States, No. 16-309, 582 U.S. ___ (2017)
• Trump v. International Refugee Assistance Project, No. 16-1436, 582 U.S. ___ (2017)
• Jennings v. Rodriguez, No. 15-1204, 583 U.S. ___ (2018)
• Sessions v. Dimaya, No. 15-1498, 584 U.S. ___ (2018)
• Pereira v. Sessions, No. 17-459, 585 U.S. ___ (2018)
• Trump v. Hawaii, No. 17-965, 585 U.S. ___ (2018)
• Nielsen v. Preap, No. 16-1363, 586 U.S. ___ (2019)
• Kansas v. Garcia, No. 17-834, 589 U.S. ___ (2020)
• Guerrero-Lasprilla v. Barr, No. 18-776, 589 U.S. ___ (2020)
• Barton v. Barr, No. 18-725, 590 U.S. ___ (2020)
• United States v. Sineneng-Smith, No. 19-67, 590 U.S. ___ (2020)
• Nasrallah v. Barr, No. 18-1432, 590 U.S. ___ (2020)
• Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California, No. 18-587, 591 U.S. ___ (2020)
• Department of Homeland Security v. Thuraissigiam, No. 19-161, 591 U.S. ___ (2020)
• Pereida v. Wilkinson, No. 19-438, 592 U.S. ___ (2021)
• Niz-Chavez v. Garland, No. 19-863, 593 U.S. ___ (2021)
• United States v. Palomar-Santiago, No. 20-437, 593 U.S. ___ (2021)
• Garland v. Ming Dai, No. 19-1155, 593 U.S. ___ (2021)
• Sanchez v. Mayorkas, No. 20-315, 593 U.S. ___ (2021)
• Johnson v. Guzman Chavez, No. 19-897, 594 U.S. ___ (2021)
• Patel v. Garland (pending)

See also

• History of laws concerning immigration and naturalization in the United States