United States v. Reimer

Decision Date05 August 1935
Docket NumberNo. 454.,454.
Citation79 F.2d 315
PartiesUNITED STATES ex rel. KETTUNEN v. REIMER, Com'r of Immigration.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

Fannie Horovitz, of New York City (Abraham Unger, of New York City, of counsel), for relator.

Martin Conboy, U. S. Atty., of New York City (Edward J. Ennis, Asst. U. S. Atty., of New York City, of counsel), for respondent-appellee.

Before MANTON, SWAN, and CHASE, Circuit Judges.

CHASE, Circuit Judge.

The relator, Pauli Olavi Kettunen, is a Finn who entered this country with his mother at the Port of New York on July 26, 1925, when a boy of 15 and has since remained here. He was arrested in Duluth, Minn., February 21, 1934, on a warrant charging him with being an alien in the United States in violation of law, in that he was a member of or affiliated with an organization, association, society, or a group that believes in, advises, advocates, and teaches the overthrow by force or violence of the government of the United States. The proscribed organization referred to was the Communist Party. He was given a hearing at Duluth before an immigration inspector, at which he appeared with his counsel and testified. At that time an allegation that he was at the time of entry a person likely to become a public charge was added. Statements he had made to an inspector previous to his arrest were introduced in evidence, and on the record then made the charges were sustained. His deportation pursuant to Act of Oct. 16, 1918, 40 Stat. 1012, as amended by Act of June 5, 1920, c. 251, 41 Stat. 1008 (8 USCA § 137), was recommended. On June 25, 1934, the Board of Review sustained only the charge of affiliation and recommended deportation on that ground alone. On July 11, 1934, a warrant for deportation on that ground was issued. The relator was the unsuccessful petitioner for a writ of habeas corpus in the District Court in Minnesota, was taken to Ellis Island, and brought this petition for such a writ when there in New York Harbor awaiting deportation.

Decision must turn on the result of an examination of the evidence which led to the finding that he was affiliated with the Communist Party. If it was sufficient to support that finding, there is no substantial basis, despite some argument to that effect, that his hearing was unfair.

It appeared that he went to school in New York for a time after he landed and then went to live with his uncle in Duluth, Minn., where he attended school and worked in a bathhouse until 1927. He then worked as a painter and as a sailor on the lakes. At one time he was in Berkeley, Cal., where he joined an organization known as the Finnish Workers Club. Little is shown as to the character and purposes of this organization, but it is enough for the present to know that there is neither proof nor claim that membership in it made him liable to deportation. In 1932 he was back in Duluth, where he attended a meeting of the Communist Party held in the rooms of the Finnish Workers Club in that city. Blank applications for membership were handed to people in the audience, including the relator, and he filled out and signed one of them which he turned in to the local secretary for forwarding to the state headquarters of the party at Minneapolis. He probably paid the initiation fee at that time also, though the record is not clear as to that. But, as the Board of Review so found and we cannot say the evidence was not sufficient for that finding, we accept it as the fact. His application was held in abeyance pending the next meeting which he was told to attend. He did attend, but by that time had changed his mind about becoming a member and requested the secretary to wait a while before sending his application to Minneapolis. As a result, his application was never sent to headquarters; he never received a membership book, and did not become a member of the Communist Party. There is no evidence that he attended any other meetings of that party or had anything more to do with it except what may be...

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14 cases
  • Bridges v. Wixon
    • United States
    • United States Supreme Court
    • 18 Junio 1945
    ...whether an alien had been 'affiliated' with the Communist party and therefore could be deported, the court in United States ex rel. Kettunen v. Reimer, 2 Cir., 79 F.2d 315, 317, said that such an affiliation was not proved 'unless the alien is shown to have so conducted himself that he has ......
  • Jencks v. United States
    • United States
    • United States Supreme Court
    • 3 Junio 1957
    ...220 F.2d 677; Sigurdson v. Landon, 9 Cir., 215 F.2d 791; Dickhoff v. Shaughnessy, D.C., 142 F.Supp. 535. 10. United States ex rel. Kettunen v. Reimer, 2 Cir., 79 F.2d 315, 317. See also, Bridges v. Wixon, 326 U.S. 135, 65 S.Ct. 1443, 89 L.Ed. 2103; Fisher v. United States, 231 F.2d 99, 107—......
  • Randall v. Meese, 87-5230
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (District of Columbia)
    • 16 Agosto 1988
    ...and Procedure, it is noted that "The precise ambit of the statutory reference to affiliation is not easy to define". In Kettunen v. Reimer, 79 F.2d 315 (2nd Cir.1935), the court found that affiliation "A status of mutual recognition that he may be relied on to cooperate with the Communist P......
  • Killian v. United States, 7
    • United States
    • United States Supreme Court
    • 11 Diciembre 1961
    ...and all other facts and circumstances in evidence which may aid determination of the issue.' 14 Compare United States ex rel. Kettunen v. Reimer, 79 F.2d 315 (C.A.2d Cir.), and Bridges v. Wixon, 326 U.S. 135, 65 S.Ct. 1443, 89 L.Ed. 2103, defining the term affiliation but as used in the dep......
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