Swartz v. Rogers, 14029.

Decision Date27 February 1958
Docket NumberNo. 14029.,14029.
Citation254 F.2d 338,103 US App. DC 1
PartiesJoseph SWARTZ and Freda Swartz, Appellants, v. William P. ROGERS, Attorney General of the United States, Appellee.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit

Mr. Richard Schifter, Washington, D. C., with whom Messrs. Max M. Kampelman and Eugene Gressman, Washington, D. C., were on the brief, for appellants.

Mr. Carl W. Belcher, Asst. U. S. Atty., with whom Mr. Oliver Gasch, U. S. Atty., and Messrs. Lewis Carroll and Robert J. Asman, Asst. U. S. Attys., were on the brief, for appellee.

Before PRETTYMAN, BAZELON and BASTIAN, Circuit Judges.

PRETTYMAN, Circuit Judge.

Our two appellants are husband and wife. He was lawfully admitted to the United States in 1908 and in 1930 was convicted for violation of the Narcotics Act. In 1942 they were married, she being a naturalized citizen. In 1953 deportation proceedings against the husband were brought under the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952.1 In February, 1955, deportation was ordered, on the ground of his conviction. Appellants then filed a complaint in the District Court for declaratory judgment and injunctive relief. The District Court rendered judgment for the Attorney General on the pleadings.

On this appeal appellants present two questions. The first question is whether the statute, providing for deportation of an alien who "has been convicted of a violation of any law or regulation relating to the illicit traffic in narcotic drugs," is unconstitutional by reason of the ex post facto clause of the Constitution. This question has been decided adversely to appellants by the Supreme Court in Mulcahey v. Catalanotte.2

The second question is whether the marriage in 1942 gave the appellant wife a contract right or a marital status which is so protected by the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment that her husband could not be deported by the retrospective application of a 1952 act of Congress. Appellants argue that the due process clause gave her a right, upon marriage, to establish a home, create a family, have the society and devotion of her husband, etc.; and that to deport her husband by the retrospective application of a statute would unconstitutionally destroy that marital status. But the essence of appellants' claim, when it is analyzed, is a right to live in this country. Certainly deportation would put burdens upon the marriage. It would impose upon the wife the choice of living abroad with her husband or living in this country without him. But deportation would not in any way destroy the legal union which the marriage created. The physical...

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52 cases
  • Colindres v. U.S. Dep't of State
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Columbia
    • 14 Diciembre 2021
    ...been deprived of a protected interest in ‘liberty’ or ‘property.’ "). Plaintiffs' allegations here do not clear that initial hurdle. In Swartz v. Rogers , the D.C. Circuit addressed a claim that a wife's due process rights under the Fifth Amendment prevented the deportation of her husband. ......
  • Gomez v. Trump
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Columbia
    • 4 Septiembre 2020
    ...these constitutional rights are not implicated when a spouse is removed or denied entry to the United States" (citing Swartz v. Rogers , 254 F.2d 338, 339 (D.C. Cir. 1958) )); Butera v. District of Columbia , 235 F.3d 637, 656 (D.C. Cir. 2001) (holding that "a parent does not have a constit......
  • Udugampola v. Jacobs
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Columbia
    • 8 Julio 2011
    ...constitutional rights are not implicated when one spouse is removed or denied entry into the United States, however. Swartz v. Rogers, 254 F.2d 338, 339 (D.C.Cir.1958) ( “Certainly deportation would put burdens upon the marriage. It would impose upon the wife the choice of living abroad wit......
  • Jafarzadeh v. Nielsen
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Columbia
    • 6 Agosto 2018
    ...by the Fifth Amendment in the circumstances of this case. The government points to the D.C. Circuit's decision in Swartz v. Rogers, 254 F.2d 338, 339 (D.C. Cir. 1958), which determined that "the wife has no constitutional right which is violated by the deportation of her husband." While "de......
  • Request a trial to view additional results
2 books & journal articles
  • Deporting Families: Legal Matter or Political Question?
    • United States
    • Georgia State University College of Law Georgia State Law Reviews No. 27-3, March 2011
    • Invalid date
    ...102 (1st Cir. 1970) (deportation of American citizen's spouse did not violate constitutional right to live together); Swartz v. Rogers, 254 F.2d 338 (D.C. Cir. 1958) (same). 121. See Aleinikoff, supra note 12, at 151-54. 518 GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW [Vol. 27:3 Committee v. Meese ......
  • Recognizing the Right to Family Unity in Immigration Law.
    • United States
    • Michigan Law Review Vol. 121 No. 4, February 2023
    • 1 Febrero 2023
    ...Alien Relative, U.S. CITIZENSHIP 8t IMMIGR. SERVS., https://www. uscis.gov/i-130 [perma.cc/K553-JPYT] (last updated Aug. 1, 2022). (135.) 254 F.2d 338 (D.C. Cir. (136.) E.g., Colindres v. U.S. Dep't of State, 575 F. Supp. 3d 121, 133-34 (D.D.C. 2021). (137.) Swartz, 254 F.2d at 339. (138.) ......

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