Tang Tun v. Harry Edsell

• Decision Date: 11 March 1912
• Docket Number: No. 45,45
• Citation: 56 L.Ed. 606,223 U.S. 673,32 S.Ct. 359
• Parties: TANG TUN and Leung Kum Wui, Petitioners, v. HARRY EDSELL, Chinese Inspector in Charge at the Port of Sumas, Washington, for the United States Government
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

223 U.S. 673

32 S.Ct. 359

56 L.Ed. 606

TANG TUN and Leung Kum Wui, Petitioners,

v HARRY EDSELL, Chinese Inspector in Charge at the Port of Sumas, Washington, for the United States Government.

No. 45.

Argued and submitted November 7, 1911.

Decided March 11, 1912.

Mr. James A. Kerr for petitioners.

Assistant Attorney General Harr for respondent.

Mr. Justice Hughes delivered the opinion of the court:

On June 22, 1906, Tang Tun and Leung Kum Wui, his wife, Chinese persons, sought entry to the United States at the port of Sumas, state of Washington, and were denied admission by the inspector in charge, whose order was affirmed by the Secretary of Commerce and Labor. Application was then made to the district court of the United States for a writ of habeas corpus.

It was alleged in the petition that Tang Tun was a citizen of the United States, born in 1879, at Seattle, of parents there domiciled; that, in 1884, he went to China, where he remained thirteen years; that, in 1897, he returned to the United States, was admitted by the collector of customs after examination, entered the employ of Wa Chong & Company, in Seattle, and continued with that firm until 1905, when he retruned to China for the purpose of marrying; returned to China for the purpose of marrying; Wui in accordance with the laws of China and the consular requirements of the United States; that the officers concerned had improperly conducted the inquiry and had abused their discretion in refusing admission; and that the petitioners were restrained of their liberty without due process of law.

The writ was granted, and the case having been submitted to the district court upon the record of the proceedings on the application for entry and the appeal to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, it was held that the petitioners had been denied the hearing for which the act of Congress provided, that Tang Tun had established his citizenship, and that he and his wife were entitled to remain in this country. Accordingly, both were discharged from custody. 161 Fed. 618. This decision was reversed by the circuit court of appeals, which reached the conclusion that the requirements of the law had been satisfied and that there was no ground for judicial intervention. 93 C. C. A. 644, 168 Fed. 488. This court issued a writ of certiorari.

The acts of August 18, 1894, chap. 301 (28 Stat. at L. 372, 390, U. S. Comp. Stat. 1901, p. 1303), and of February 14, 1903, chap. 552 (32 Stat. at L. 825, 828, U. S. Comp. Stat. Supp. 1909, p. 87), make the decision of the appropriate immigration officer final unless reversed on appeal to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor. And if it does not affirmatively appear that the executive officers have acted in some unlawful or improper way and abused their discretion, their finding upon the question of citizenship must be deemed to be conclusive, and is not subject to review by the court. United States v. Ju Toy, 198 U. S. 253, 49 L. ed. 1040, 25 Sup. Ct. Rep. 644; Chin Yow v. United States, 208 U. S. 8, 52 L. ed. 369, 28 Sup. Ct. Rep. 201.

It appears from the record that on his arrival, Tang Tun was promptly examined by the inspector at Sumas. The examination was careful and fair. He testified on June 23, 1906, again on June 27, 1906, and still further on July 5, 1906. He had presented, in support of his application, affidavits which he had taken with him for the purpose of identification when he left the United States in 1905. These affidavits described his parentage, his place of birth, and his residence in this country, substantially as set forth in his petition; and they bore the indorsement of the inspector under date of October 1, 1905. The two white witnesses who had joined in one of the affidavits were examined at Seattle on July 2, 1906, and in the report of the inspector at that place, it is stated that the Chinese witness who made the remaining affidavit of identification had been notified to appear and had informed the inspector that he did not care to testify.

As already noted, the applicant asserted that he had been admitted to the United States in 1897, after examination, by the collector of customs, and a copy of the identification papers he then had was produced, bearing what purported to be the indorsement of the collector as to the fact of admission. The inspector found, however that in the records of the customs office at Port Townsend, Washington, the port at which he had arrived in 1897, it was stated that he had been rejected. On his re-examination, Tang Tun was questioned as to the discrepancy. He was also told that the witnesses who had made the identification affidavits in 1905 had been examined and that their testimony was not satisfactory; and he was asked whether he could furnish any additional testimony as to his nativity. Apparently he had nothing further to submit, and the inspector made an order on July 5, 1906, rejecting his application.

On the same day Tang Tun was informed of the inspector's decision and of his right to appeal to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor. An appeal was taken and on July 7, 1906, the applicant's attorney notified the inspector that he intended to take additional testimony. An extension of time was granted for this purpose. Several affidavits were presented on behalf of the applicants, and these were forwarded to the office at Seattle, where the witnesses as to disputed points were examined by the inspector. On August 28, 1906, the record of the proceedings, with the exhibits to which we shall presently refer, was forwarded to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, and a brief discussing the evidence and the course of the proceedings was also submitted on behalf of the applicants under date of August 25, 1906. The record was received by the Secretary of Commerce and Labor on the morning of September 5, 1906, and on the afternoon of the following day a telegram was sent from the Department to the inspector at Sumas, as follows: 'Appeal Tang Tun and Leung Gum Wui dismissed. Murray;' and this was confirmed by a letter from the Department. Then followed the habeas corpus proceedings.

It is clear that the applicants had full opportunity to present their evidence and to produce witnesses on their behalf. But it is charged that the inspector who conducted the inquiry was biased, and that his unfairness is shown by the manner in which he dealt with the question whether Tang Tun had been admitted by the collector in 1897. We do not find this charge to be justified. When it was ascertained that Tang Tun had papers bearing, apparently, the indorsement of the collector, and showing that he had been admitted on his former arrival, is was certainly permissible for the inspector, if indeed it was not his duty, to examine the official records of the customs office to ascertain whatever they might disclose as to the disposition of the case. On finding that these records contained the statement, over what appeared to be the signature of the same collector, that Tang Tun had been rejected, the inspector properly brought this fact to the latter's attention, and asked whether he had any explanation to give. No right of the applicants was violated by the inspector, either in his own action preliminary to the order of rejection, or in his subsequent communication with the Seattle officers to the end that the matter should be sifted and the witnesses who had made affidavits in support of the appeal should be carefully examined.

It is urged, however, that, without the knowledge of the petitioners, and to their serious prejudice, incompetent statements were injected into the record which was submitted to the Secretary of Commerce and...