United States v. Shaughnessy
| Decision Date | 01 August 1955 |
| Citation | 133 F. Supp. 433 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America ex rel. Anastasios HINTOPOULOS and Elizabeth Hintopoulos, Relators, v. Edward J. SHAUGHNESSY, District Director of Immigration and Naturalization at the Port of New York, Respondent. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York |
Jay Nicholas Long, of New York City, for relators.
Lloyd F. MacMahon, U. S. Atty., New York City, for respondent, Lester Friedman, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Dept. of Justice, New York City, of counsel.
This matter, brought up by the issuance of a writ of habeas corpus, involves the question as to whether the denial to petitioners of suspension of deportation by the Attorney General was an abuse of discretion by the Attorney General.
The undisputed facts show that the relators are citizens of Greece who are now illegally in the United States. They last entered the United States in 1951 as members of a crew of a Greek steamship. They were granted shore leave for the period of time the vessel on which they arrived remained in port, but in no event to exceed twenty-nine days. They failed to depart from the United States before the expiration of their period of temporary admission and did not apply for any extension of this period.
In April, 1952, warrants of arrest were duly issued by the District Director of Immigration and Naturalization charging that the relators were unlawfully in the United States and subject to deportation. A hearing was accorded to the relators. The Hearing Officer made his decision, finding both relators deportable and denying their applications for suspension of deportation. An appeal was taken to the Board of Immigration Appeals, and that Board, on March 18, 1954, made an order denying their applications for suspension of deportation and dismissing their appeal. They were given permission to depart voluntarily from the United States.
Relators did not depart from the United States, but on April 19, 1954, filed a motion addressed to the Board of Immigration Appeals requesting that the proceedings be re-opened and their applications for suspension of deportation reconsidered. On May 5, 1954, the Board of Immigration Appeals denied relators' motion. They were given until August 20, 1954 within which to avail themselves of the privilege of voluntary departure. On May 11, 1955, they submitted another motion addressed to the Board of Immigration Appeals asking that the administrative proceedings be re-opened and their applications for suspension of deportation reconsidered. These motions were denied by the Board of Immigration Appeals on June 3, 1955.
On July 12, 1955, relators submitted an application that their deportation be stayed on the ground that the deportation could possibly endanger the life of the relator Elizabeth Hintopoulos and would involve "the possible loss of the unborn child with whom she is now in the fifth month of pregnancy". On July 13, 1955, this relator was examined by a surgeon of the United States Public Health Service who certified that she was able to travel without danger to life; that she required no immediate medical treatment, and that she could travel aboard a vessel having a physician aboard. Thereupon, relators' application for a stay of deportation was denied and they were taken into custody for deportation.
Relators do not deny that they are illegally in the Country and are subject to deportation. They urge, however, that they were eligible for suspension of deportation under the provisions of § 19(c) of the Immigration Act of 1917, as amended,1 and that the refusal of the Attorney General to suspend deportation under the provisions of this statute was an abuse of discretion.
The respondent admits that relators came within the category of the persons for whom the Attorney General might suspend deportation. Respondent urges, however, that the suspension of deportation under the provisions of this statute is purely a matter of the discretion of the Attorney General; that the Attorney General exercised his discretion and did not exercise it capriciously or arbitrarily.
It is well established that the Courts may not review the exercise of such discretion by the Attorney General, and that they may interfere only where there has been a clear abuse of discretion or a clear failure to exercise discretion. In such cases, the Court can do no more than to require that the discretion be properly exercised. United States ex rel. Kaloudis v. Shaughnessy, 2 Cir., 1950, 180 F.2d 489; United States ex rel. Adel v. Shaughnessy, 2 Cir., 1950, 183 F.2d 371; United States ex rel. James v. Shaughnessy, 2 Cir., 1953, 202 F.2d 519, certiorari denied 345 U.S. 969, 73 S.Ct. 1112, 97 L.Ed. 1508.
The administrative record which was submitted in connection with this...
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United States Hintopoulos v. Shaughnessy
...that the Board abused its discretion in denying their application for suspension of deportation. The District Court dismissed the writ, 133 F.Supp. 433, and the Court of Appeals, one judge dissenting, affirmed, 2 Cir., 233 F.2d 705. We granted certiorari. 352 U.S. 819, 77 S.Ct. 53, 1 L.Ed.2......
- United States v. Shaughnessy, 144
- Maiden v. United States, 27024.