In the case of McGrath, Attorney General, et al. v. Kristensen in 1950, the U.S Supreme Court ruled that an alien who had been ordered deported could not be indefinitely detained by the government if there was no reasonable prospect that he would ever be deported to his home country. The court held that such detention violated due process rights under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution and constituted a form of punishment without trial. This decision set a precedent for future cases involving indefinite detention of aliens facing deportation.

In the dissenting opinion for McGrath v. Kristensen, Justice Robert H. Jackson argued that the majority's decision to allow a non-citizen who had been deported and then illegally reentered the country to remain in America was an overreach of judicial power. He contended that it is not within the Court's authority to change or ignore immigration laws set by Congress, regardless of whether they seem harsh or unfair. Furthermore, he expressed concern about setting a precedent where individuals could evade deportation simply by marrying American citizens after their illegal entry into the country. Justice Jackson believed this would undermine national sovereignty and potentially encourage more unlawful entries into America.