Page:United States Reports 502 OCT. TERM 1991.pdf/643

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Cite as: 502 U. S. 478 (1992)

485

Stevens, J., dissenting

If respondent were to prevail, as he did in the Court of Appeals, 921 F. 2d 844 (CA9 1990), he would be classified as a “refugee” and therefore be eligible for a grant of asylum. He would not be automatically entitled to that relief, however, because “the Attorney General is not required to grant asylum to everyone who meets the definition of refugee.” INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U. S. 421, 428, n. 5 (1987) (emphasis in original). Instead, § 208 of the Act provides that the Attorney General may, “in [his] discretion,” grant asylum to refugees.4 cution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion, or (B) in such special circumstances as the President after appropriate consultation (as defined in section 1157(e) of this title) may specify, any person who is within the country of such person’s nationality or, in the case of a person having no nationality, within the country in which such person is habitually residing, and who is persecuted or who has a wellfounded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. The term ‘refugee’ does not include any person who ordered, incited, assisted, or otherwise participated in the persecution of any person on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.” 4 Section 208(a) of the Act, as codified at 8 U. S. C. § 1158(a), provides: “The Attorney General shall establish a procedure for an alien physically present in the United States or at a land border or port of entry, irrespective of such alien’s status, to apply for asylum, and the alien may be granted asylum in the discretion of the Attorney General if the Attorney General determines that such alien is a refugee within the meaning of section 1101(a)(42)(A) of this title.” As we recognized in INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U. S. 421, 444–445 (1987): “ ‘The [House] Committee carefully considered arguments that the new definition might expand the numbers of refugees eligible to come to the United States and force substantially greater refugee admissions than the country could absorb. However, merely because an individual or group comes within the definition will not guarantee resettlement in the United States.’ H. R. Rep. [96–608, p. 10 (1979)]. “. . . Congress has assigned to the Attorney General and his delegates the task of making these hard individualized decisions; although Congress