United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Garcia-Mir v. Smith, 469 U.S. 1311 (1984)

Garcia-Mir v. Smith

No. A-582

Decided February 1, 1985

469 U.S. 1311

Syllabus

An application to vacate the Court of Appeals' partial stay of the District Court's order is denied. In proceedings involving a class of Cuban nationals (including applicants) who, having unlawfully entered the United States, have been detained in a federal penitentiary pending Cuba's acceptance of their return, have had exclusion orders entered against them, and assert that they would be subject to persecution if returned to Cuba and thus are eligible for asylum, the District Court ordered that certain test cases be remanded to the Board of Immigration Appeals and that the exclusion orders be set aside. The Court of Appeals' stay, pending respondents' appeal from the District Court, among other things, (1) refused to delay deportation of class members who would not be eligible for asylum, regardless of the outcome on the merits of the test cases, because they had committed serious crimes or otherwise posed a danger to the security of the United States, but (2) shifted to the Government the burden of proving that the alien was excludable on such grounds. Applicants simply have not made a showing of irreparable injury that would warrant interference with the Court of Appeals' partial stay.