United States v. Vasilatos, 11109.

• Decision Date: 07 January 1954
• Docket Number: No. 11109.,11109.
• Citation: 209 F.2d 195
• Parties: UNITED STATES v. VASILATOS.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit

209 F.2d 195 (1954)

UNITED STATES v. VASILATOS.

No. 11109.

United States Court of Appeals Third Circuit.

Argued November 3, 1953.

Decided January 7, 1954.

Edward E. Dicker, Philadelphia, Pa., for appellant.

W. Wilson White, Philadelphia, Pa. (William B. Taffet, District Counsel, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Philadelphia, Pa., on the brief), for appellee.

Before MARIS, STALEY and HASTIE, Circuit Judges.

HASTIE, Circuit Judge.

Section 180(a) of Title 8 of the United States Code as it existed in 1951, when the events in litigation occurred, made it a felony for a deported alien again to "enter" the United States.¹ The relevant venue statute authorized prosecution at "any place * * * at which the violation may occur * * *." 8 U.S.C. (1946 ed.) § 164. For reenactment, see 8 U.S.C.A. § 1329. Appellant Vasilatos, a Greek seaman, was indicted, tried and convicted under Section 180(a) in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, it being alleged that he had unlawfully "entered" the United States at the Port of Philadelphia. Throughout the litigation, Vasilatos has challenged the venue, insisting that he did not "enter" the United States at Philadelphia. That issue of venue is the principal question on this appeal.

Vasilatos reached the United States as a member of the crew of a Greek ship, incoming from a foreign voyage. The ship came directly to Philadelphia as its first port of call. At Philadelphia, in accordance with established and familiar procedure of the United States Immigration Service, an immigration officer boarded the ship to interrogate each alien seaman and either to certify that the seaman was entitled to admission on a temporary basis or to order him restrained to the ship during its stay in this country as the facts revealed to the officer in each case should warrant. This officer interrogated Vasilatos who falsely represented that he had never been deported from the United States, thus concealing a fact which made him ineligible for clearance even on a temporary basis. Thus misled, the Immigration Officer certified Vasilatos as entitled to admission and a twenty-nine day stay with freedom of movement in the United States.

Thereafter, Vasilatos did not leave the ship in Philadelphia but remained continuously on board until the vessel proceeded coastwise to Baltimore. He landed at Baltimore and thereafter remained at large in the United States until his apprehension in Albany, New York about a year later.

This case arose before Congress in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 defined "entry" as "any coming of an alien into the United States from a foreign port or place * * *." 8 U.S. C.A. § 1101(a) (13). The earlier statutes did not define "enter" or "entry". However, the immigration authorities and the courts attempted to achieve a reasonable construction of these words consistent with the sense of the situation.

It must have been apparent, long before the fact was emphasized in the 1952 definition, that in a literal and physical sense a person coming from abroad enters the United States whenever he reaches any land, water or air space within the territorial limits of this nation. But the actual clearance of persons who seek admission in regular course is accomplished at designated stations, many of them located as a matter of convenience some distance inside the national boundary. In these circumstances, those who have come from abroad directly to such a station seeking admission in regular course have not been viewed by the courts as accomplishing an "entry" by crossing the national boundary in transit or even by arrival at a port so long as they are detained there pending formal disposition of their requests for admission. United States v. Ju Toy, 1905, 198 U.S. 253, 25 S.Ct. 644, 49 L.Ed. 1040; Kaplan v. Tod, 1925, 267 U.S. 228, 45 S.Ct. 257, 69 L.Ed. 585. The reasonableness of this concept is emphasized by the fact that the master of an incoming vessel is...