Chin Bak Kan v. United States

• Decision Date: 02 June 1902
• Docket Number: 525, 526
• Citation: 186 U.S. 193,46 L.Ed. 1121,22 S. Ct. 891
• Parties: <P><B><CENTER>CHIN BAK KAN, <I>Appt.</I>,</P> <P>v.</P> <P>UNITED STATES.</CENTER></B></P>
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

186 U.S. 193

22 S.Ct. 891

46 L.Ed. 1121

CHIN BAK KAN, Appt.,

v UNITED STATES.

No. 525.

Argued March 13, 14, 1902.

Decided june 2, 1902.

186 U.S. 193

22 S.Ct. 891

46 L.Ed. 1121

CHIN BAK KAN, Appt.,

v.

UNITED STATES.

No. 525.

Argued March 13, 14, 1902.

Decided june 2, 1902.

Complaint under oath was duly made before a commissioner of the United States for the northern district of New York, charging 'that Chin Bak Kan did, on or about the 13th day of March, 1901, at Burke in said district, knowingly and wrongfully come from Canada, in the province of Quebec, into the northern district of New York, to wit: into Burke in the county of Franklin and state of New York, in the United States, he, the said Chin Bak Kan being then and there a Chinese person and laborer, and a person prohibited by the laws of the United States of America from being and remaining in the United States, and he, the said Chin Bak Kan, then and there being such Chinese person as aforesaid, was then and there found unlawfully in the United States at Burke aforesaid, in violation of the acts of the Congress in such case made and provided.'

A warrant for the apprehension of Chin Bak Kan was issued March 13, 1901, and he was arrested and brought before the commissioner. He was informed of the charge against him, advised that he would be permitted to make a statement without or with oath, or to refuse to make any statement or to an- swer any question put to him, and was entitled to reasonable time to send for counsel and procure the attendance of witnesses. He pleaded not guilty to the charge, 'but admitted that he had just come into the United States.' He was thereafter represented by counsel. Subsequently a hearing and trial was commenced before the commissioner who issued the warrant. That officer having been taken sick, the hearing was continued and concluded before another commissioner, who found and adjudged upon the evidence as follows: 'I now hereby find and adjudge that the said Chin Bak Kan is a Chinese person and laborer, that he is not a diplomatic or other officer of the Chinese or any other government, and unlawfully entered the United States, as charged in said complaint. And I further adjudge him, said Chin Bak Kan, guilty of not being lawfully entitled to be or remain in the United States. I further find and adjudge that he, said Chin Bak Kan, came from the Empire of China, but he has not made it appear to me that he was a subject or citizen of some other country than China. And I hereby order and adjudge said Chin Bak Kan to be immediately removed from the United States to the Empire of China. A certified copy of this judgment shall be the process upon which said removal of said Chin Bak Kan shall be made from the United States to the Empire of China. And said process shall be executed by the Hon. C. D. MacDougall, United States marshal for said district.'

An appeal was prosecuted to the district court of the United States for the northern district of New York, but the appeal was dismissed, and the judgment for the deportation of the defendant was affirmed.

From the final order of the district court an appeal was then

Messrs. Max J. Kohler and B. Lewinson for appellant.

Assistant Attorney General Hoyt and Solicitor General Richards for appellee.

Mr. Chief Justice Fuller delivered the opinion of the court:

By § 1 of the act of May 6, 1882 (22 Stat. at L. 58, chap. 126) it was provided that from and after the expiration of ninety days, and until the expiration of ten years, the coming of Chinese laborers to the United States should be suspended, and during such suspension it was made unlawful for any Chinese laborer to come, or, having come after the expiration of said ninety days, to remain within the United States.

By § 4 provision was made for certificates to be granted to such Chinese as were entitled, under the treaty of November 17, 1880, to go from, or come to, the United States, of their free will and accord, in order to identify them.

The 12th section of the act was as follows: 'That no Chinese person shall be permitted to enter the United States by land without producing to the proper officer of customs the certificate in this act required of Chinese persons seeking to land from a vessel. And any Chinese person found unlawfully within the United States shall be caused to be removed therefrom to the country from whence he came, by direction of the President of the United States, and at the cost of the United States, after being brought before some justice, judge, or commissioner of a court of the United States, and found to be one not lawfully entitled to be or remain in the United States.'

This section was amended by the act of July 5, 1884 (23 Stat. at L. 115, chap. 220), so as to read as follows: 'That no Chinese person shall be permitted to enter the United States by land without producing to the proper officer of customs the certificate in this act required of Chinese persons seeking to land from a vessel. And any Chinese person found unlawfully within the United States shall be caused to be removed therefrom to the country from whence he came, and at the cost of the United States, after being brought before some justice, judge, or commissioner of a court of the United States and found to be one not lawfully entitled to be or to remain in the United States; and in all such cases the person who brought or aided in bringing such person to the United States shall be liable to the government of the United States for all necessary expenses incurred in such investigation and removal; and all peace officers of the several states and territories of the United States are hereby invested with the same authority as a marshal or United States marshal in reference to carrying out the provisions of this act or the act of which this is amendatory, as a marshal or deputy marshal of the United States, and shall be entitled to like compensation, to be audited and paid by the same officers. And the United States shall pay all costs and charges for the maintenance and return of any Chinese person having the certificate prescribed by law as entitling such Chinese person to come into the United States, who may not have been permitted to land from any vessel by reason of any of the provisions of this act.'

By § 1 of the act of May 5, 1892 (27 Stat. at L. 25, chap. 60), it was provided: 'That all laws now in force prohibiting and regulating the coming into this country of Chinese persons and persons of Chinese descent are hereby continued in force for the period of ten years from the passage of this act.'

Sections 2, 3, and 6 were as follows:

'Sec. 2. That any Chinese person or person of Chinese descent, when convicted and adjudged under any of said laws to be not lawfully entitled to be or remain in the United States, shall be removed from the United States to China, unless he or they shall make it appear to the justice, judge, or commissioner before whom he or they are tried that he or they are subjects or citizens of some other country, in which case he or they shall be removed from the United States to such country: Provided, That in any case where such other country of which such Chinese person shall claim to be a citizen or subject shall demand any tax as a condition of the removal of such person to that country, he or she shall be removed to China.

'Sec. 3. That any Chinese person or person of Chinese descent arrested under the provisions of this act or the acts hereby extended shall be adjudged to be unlawfully within the United States unless such person shall establish, by affirmative proof, to the satisfaction of such justice, judge, or commissioner, his lawful right to remain in the United States.'

'Sec. 6. And it shall be the duty of all Chinese laborers within the limits of the United States, at the time of the passage of this act, and who are entitled to remain in the United States, to apply to the collector of internal revenue of their re- spective districts, within one year after the passage of this act, for a certificate of residence, and any Chinese laborer, within the limits of the United States, who shall neglect, fail, or refuse to comply with the provisions of this act, or who, after one year from the passage hereof, shall be found within the jurisdiction of the United States without such certificate of residence, shall be deemed and adjudged to be unlawfully within the United State, and may be arrested, by any United States customas official, collector of internal revenue or his deputies, United States marshal or his deputies, and taken before a United State judge, whose duty it shall be to order that he be deported from the United States as hereinbefore provided, unless he shall establish clearly to the satisfaction of said judge that, by reason of accident, sickness, or other unavoidable cause, he has been unable to procure his certificate, and to the satisfaction of the court, and by at least one credible white witness, that he was a resident of the United States at the time of the passage of this act; and if upon the hearing, it shall appear that he is so entitled to a certificate, it shall be granted upon his paying the cost.

'Should...