161 F. 211 | W.D. Wash. | 1908
For convenience the individual in was to opinion as “the contestant.” He is a son of Chinese parents, and, the question to be adjudicated is whether he is an alien or a citizen of the United States. This is necessarily preliminary to every other question .to be considered, and its determination is also the ultimate object of the proceedings. It is preliminary, because the immigration inspectors have decided that he is a Chinese person not entitled to enter the United States. Their decision became final by the dismissal of his appeal to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, and the courts are prohibited from interfering with the enforcement' of the Chinese exclusion laws. The Ju Toy Case, 198 U. S. 253, 25 Sup. Ct. 644, 49 L. Ed. 1040. These laws, however, cannot deprive a citizen of the United States of the right to invoke the protection of the courts in the right to enjoy liberty in his own country. U. S. v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U. S. 649, 18 Sup. Ct. 456, 42 L. Ed. 890; Chin Yow v. United States, 28 Sup. Ct. 201, 52 L. Ed. --. The Constitution of the United States is the paramount law of this country, and all who are lawfully within its boundaries may claim the guaranties of liberty which it contains, and require the courts to adjudicate controversies involving infringements of such rights; but aliens who have not yet gained a foothold upon the soil are in no position to require the courts to adjudicate questions as to the constitutionality of laws enacted by Congress. The Chinese Exclusion Case, 130 U. S. 581, 9 Sup. Ct. 623, 32 L. Ed. 1068. Therefore, if the contestant is , an alien, the question as to his right to enter the United States is extrajudicial.
There is a natural presumption that a person of the Mongolian race, coming to this country from China, is an alien; and to overcome that presumption, and secure recognition of the rights, privileges,
lie complains of unfair treatment ou the part of the immigration inspectors by reason of their acceptance of said information as evidence, the same being unsworn statements obtained when he was not present, and of the deprivation of a fair opportunity to obtain the depositions of the former commissioner referred to and the witness upon whose testimony the commissioner relied in making liis decision. This contention avails nothing; for, if it he assumed that the inspectors improperly received and considered unsworn testimony obtained in an illegitimate manner, and on such evidence decided the certificate to he a forgery, and if it be further assumed that the certificate is not a forgeiy, but genuine, and that this man is the identical person to whom the genuine certificate was originally issued, he still appears before this court without any competent evidence to prove that he was horn within the United States, which fact is essen
In this case there is not only a total failure to prove by competent evidence that the contestant is a citizen, but also a failure to make a showing that there is any competent evidence which can be produced; and for that reason it is directed that an order be entered discharging the writ of habeas corpus and remanding the contestant to the custody of the immigration inspectors to be deported according to law.