United States v. Campos-Serrano/Opinion of the Court

The respondent was convicted in a federal district court of possession of a counterfeit alien registration receipt card in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1546, and sentenced to a three-year prison term. The Court of Appeals reversed the conviction, 430 F.2d 173, holding that because of the circumstances under which Government agents had acquired the card from the respondent, it had been unconstitutionally admitted against him at the trial under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694. We granted certiorari. 401 U.S. 936, 91 S.Ct. 926, 28 L.Ed.2d 215. We do not reach the constitutional issue, however, for we have concluded that the judgment of the Court of Appeals must be affirmed upon a discrete statutory ground. See Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority, 297 U.S. 288, 347, 56 S.Ct. 466, 483, 80 L.Ed. 688 (Brandeis, J., concurring). We hold that possession of a counterfeit alien registration receipt card is not an act punishable under 18 U.S.C. § 1546.

The statutory provision in question prohibits, inter alia, the counterfeiting or alternation of, or the possession, use, or receipt of an already counterfeited or altered 'immigrant or nonimmigrant visa, permit, or other document required for entry into the United States.' This offense originated in Section 22(a) of the Immigration Act of 1924, which covered only an 'immigration visa or permit.' The words 'other document required for entry into the United States,' were added in 1952 as part of the Immigrant and Nationality Act. § 402(a), 66 Stat. 275. The legislative history of the 1952 Act, however, does not make clear which 'other' entry documents the Congress had in mind.

Alien registration receipt cards were first issued in 1941. They are small, simple cards containing the alien's picture and basic identification information. They have no function whatsoever in facilitating the initial entry into the United States. Rather, they are issued after an alien has entered the country and taken up residence. Their essential purpose is to effectuate the registration requirement for all resident aliens established in the Alien Registration Act of 1940.

Until 1952, alien registration receipt cards could not even be used to facilitate re-entry into the United States by a resident alien who had left temporarily. Such an alien was required to obtain special documents authorizing his re-entry into the country, such as a visa or a re-entry permit. However, in 1952-less than a month before final enactment of the Immigration and Nationality Act-the Immigration and Naturalization Service promulgated a regulation that allowed resident aliens to use their registration receipt cards for re-entry purposes as a permissible substitute for the specialized documents. The apparent reason for this regulation was to minimize paper work and streamline administrative procedures by giving resident aliens the option of using for re-entry a document already issued and serving other purposes. Thus, the registration receipt cards may now be used in lieu of a visa or a re-entry permit on condition that the holder is returning to the United States after a temporary absence of not more than one year.

The Court of Appeals held that the limited, merely permissible, re-entry function of the alien registration receipt card is sufficient to make it a 'document required for entry into the United States' under § 1546. 430 F.2d, at 175. We cannot agree. It has long been settled that 'penal statutes are to be construed strictly,' Federal Communications Comm'n v. American Broadcasting Co., 347 U.S. 284, 296, 74 S.Ct. 593, 601, 98 L.Ed. 699, and that one 'is not to be subjected to a penalty unless the words of the statute plainly impose it,' Keppel v. Tiffin Savings Bank, 197 U.S. 356, 362, 25 S.Ct. 443, 445, 49 L.Ed. 790. '(W)hen choice has to be made between two readings of what conduct Congress has made a crime, it is appropriate, before we choose the harsher alternative, to require that Congress should have spoken in language that is clear and definite.' United States v. Universal C.I.T. Credit Corp., 344 U.S. 218, 221-222, 73 S.Ct. 227, 229, 97 L.Ed. 260. In § 1546, Congress did speak in 'clear and definite' language. But, taken literally and given its plain and ordinary meaning, that language does not impose a criminal penalty for possession of a counterfeited alien registration receipt card. Alien registration receipt cards may be used for re-entry by certain persons into the United States. They are not required for entry.

The canon of strict construction of criminal statutes, of course, 'does not mean that every criminal statute must be given the narrowest possible meaning in complete disregard of the purpose of the legislature.' United States v. Bramblett, 348 U.S. 503, 510, 75 S.Ct. 504, 508, 99 L.Ed. 594. If an absolutely literal reading of a statutory provision is irreconcilably at war with the clear congressional purpose, a less literal construction must be considered. In this spirit, we read § 1546 in conjunction with 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(13)-another part of the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act-which provides that, under most circumstances, an 'entry' into the United States is defined to include a 're-entry.' We have held in the past that Congress did not intend these terms to be taken entirely synonymously. Rosenberg v. Fleuti, 374 U.S. 449, 83 S.Ct. 1804, 10 L.Ed.2d 1000. But Congress clearly did intend a significant overlap, and we cannot say that a document usable for 'entry' into the United States under § 1546 does not include some documents usable for 're-entry.' Nor do we hold that § 1546 applies only to those documents absolutely 'required' in order to enter or re-entry the country. To do so would undermine the congressional purpose behind § 1546, since the Immigration and Naturalization Service has not required that presentation of any one particular document be the exclusive condition of crossing our borders.

While the apparent congressional purpose underlying § 1546 would thus seem to bar an uncompromisingly literal construction, the precise language of the provision must not be deprived of all force. The principle of strict construction of criminal statutes demands that some determinate limits be established based upon the actual words of the statute. Accordingly, a 'document required for entry into the United States' cannot be construed to include any document whatsoever that the Immigration and Naturalization Service, from time to time, decides may be presented for re-entry at the border. The language of § 1546 denotes a very special class of 'entry' documents-documents whose primary raison d'e tre is the facilitation of entry into the country. The phrase, 'required for entry into the United States,' is descriptive of the nature of the documents; it is not simply a open-ended reference to future administrative regulations.

If, for example, the Immigration and Naturalization Service were to allow the presentation of identification such as a driver's license at the border, the nature of such a license would not suddenly change so that it would fall into the category of a 'document required for entry into the United States' under § 1546. To be sure, if a counterfeit driver's license were presented to secure entry or re-entry into the country, the bearer could be prosecuted under 8 U.S.C. § 1325, which provides for the punishment of '(a)ny alien who. . . obtains entry to the United States by a willfully false or misleading representation. . ..' But mere possession of a counterfeit driver's license, far from the border, could not be prosecuted under § 1546. The reason is that a driver's license is not essentially an 'entry' document. Rather, its primary purpose is to allow its bearer lawfully to drive a car, and the bearer's possession of a counterfeit license, far from the border, could not be assumed to be related to the policies underlying the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act.

The same analysis applies to the alien registration receipt card. Its essential purpose is not to secure entry into the United States, but to identify the bearer as a lawfully registered alien residing in the United States. It is issued to an alien after he has taken up residence in this country. It is intended to govern his activities and presence within this country. The card has been given a convenient, additional function as a permissible substitute for a visa or re-entry permit in facilitating reentry into the United States by a resident alien. But, unlike a visa or a re-entry permit, an alien registration receipt card serves this function in only a secondary way. Unlike a visa or a re-entry permit, it is not, by its nature, a 'document required for entry into the United States' under § 1546.

This construction of the language of § 1546 is conclusively supported by that section's statutory context. In the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act, Congress clearly regarded alien registration receipt cards as serving policies separate and distinct from those served by pure 'entry' documents. Although, in 1952, those cards could be used as substitutes for visas or re-entry permits, the Congress chose to deal with them separately. In 8 U.S.C. § 1306(c) and § 1306(d), it specifically provided for the punishment of one 'who procures or attempts to procure registration of himself or another person through fraud' and of one who counterfeits an alien registration receipt card. The fact that the Congress did not rely on § 1546 to ensure the integrity of alien registration receipt cards indicates that it did not believe that they were covered by that section. Moreover, there is a very specific overlap between § 1546 and § 1306. Both sections explicitly prohibit counterfeiting, and both explicitly prohibit fraud in the acquisition of documents. Unless we assume that § 1306 is mere surplusage, we must conclude that § 1546 covers only specialized 'entry' documents, and not alien registration receipt cards specifically covered in § 1306.

For these reasons the judgment is affirmed.

Affirmed.

Mr. Justice BLACKMUN, with whom THE CHIEF JUSTICE and Mr. Justice WHITE join, dissenting.