This is a list of Supreme Court of the United States cases in the area of immigration law and naturalization law. In the United States Constitution, the Copyright Clause in Article 1, Section 8 endows Congress with the power to create a copyright system.

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) (1873)
• 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.
• Nishimura Ekiu v. United States, 142 U.S. 651 (1892)
• Lau Ow Bew v. United States, 144 U.S. 47 (1892)
• 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) (aka the "Japanese Immigrant Case")
• Takao Ozawa v. United States, 260 U.S. 178 (1922)
• Takuji Yamashita v. Hinkle, 260 U.S. 199 (1922)
• United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind, 261 U.S. 204 (1923)
• United States v. Schwimmer, 279 U.S. 644 (1929)
• Perkins v. Elg, 307 U.S. 325 (1939)
• Hines v. Davidowitz, 312 U.S. 52 (1941)
• 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) ( revocation of citizenship as a punishment for desertion was struck down)
• 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
• 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
• Afroyim v. Rusk, 387 U.S. 253 (1967)
• Rogers v. Bellei, 401 U.S. 815 (1971)
• Kleindienst v. Mandel, 408 U.S. 753 (1972)

• 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)
• Haig v. Agee, 453 U.S. 280 (1981)
• Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Predrag 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.
• Saenz v. Roe, 526 U.S. 489 (1999)
• 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)
• Leocal v. Ashcroft, 543 U.S. 1 (2004)
• Negusie v. Holder, 555 U.S. 511 (2009)
• Padilla v. Commonwealth of Kentucky, 559 U.S. 356 (2010)
• Chamber of Commerce v. Whiting (2011)
• Kawashima v. Holder, 565 U.S. 478 (2012)

• Vartelas v. Holder, 566 U.S. 257 (2012)
• Arizona v. United States, 567 U.S. 387 (2012)

• Reyes Mata v. Lynch, 576 U.S. ___ (2015)
• United States v. Texas, 579 U.S. ___ (2016)
• Molina-Martinez v. United States, 578 U.S. ___ (2016)
• Luna Torres v. Lynch, 578 U.S. ___ (2016)

• Maslenjak v. United States, 582 U.S. ___ (2017)
• Jennings v. Rodriguez, 583 U.S. ___ (2018)* Sessions v. Dimaya, 584 U.S. ___ (2018)

Further research

See also

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