KLEINDIENST v. MANDEL

Legal Principle at Issue

Whether the Attorney General’s refusal to grant a waiver of inadmissibility for a foreign Marxist scholar violated the First Amendment rights of American scholars and students who invited him to speak in the United States.

Action

Reversed. Petitioning party received a favorable disposition.

Facts/Syllabus

Ernest Mandel, a Belgian journalist and self-described revolutionary Marxist, had twice been allowed temporary entry into the United States despite findings that he was inadmissible under § 212(a)(28) of the of the Immigration and Nationality Act because the Attorney General had granted waivers. In 1969, Mandel sought another visa to speak at Stanford and other universities and forums, but the government denied him entry, citing his alleged violation of the limits placed on his 1968 visit. Although the State Department later reconsidered and recommended a waiver, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, acting for the attorney general, refused it, concluding that Mandel had abused his prior opportunity to speak in the United States.

Mandel and several university professors sued the attorney general and secretary of state, arguing that the denial violated the professors’ First and Fifth Amendment rights by preventing them from hearing and engaging with Mandel in person. They also challenged the relevant immigration statutes as unconstitutional, claiming discrimination, lack of due process, improper delegation of power, and arbitrary application. A three-judge district court agreed with the professors, holding that citizens had a First Amendment interest in hearing Mandel’s views, declared the statutes invalid as applied to Mandel, and barred the government from using them to deny him admission.