Mullin v. Al Otro Lado · ¶128

In the end, the majority does get one thing right: “Arriving” noncitizens do belong to a distinct legal subcategory. This subcategory is best understood to include noncitizens who walk up to ports of entry but have not yet stepped foot on U. S. territory. See supra, at 8–15. The better interpretation is thus that Congress used the term “arrives in the United States” in §§1225(a)(1) and 1158(a)(1) to capture this group of people because the “present in the United States” clause does not already capture them. Only this construction “give[s] effect . . . to every clause” of these statutes, Loughrin, 573 U. S., at 358, and keeps them both logically and historically consistent.

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