Kwong Hai Chew v. Colding

Chew (plaintiff), a Chinese seaman who came to the United States in 1945, married an American citizen, bought a home in New York, and by 1949 had obtained permanent resident status after his deportation had earlier been suspended; he had served in the Merchant Marine during World War II and continued serving on an American-registered merchant vessel afterward, passing the Coast Guard's own screening before signing on. When his ship docked in San Francisco, an immigration inspector 'temporarily excluded' him under a federal regulation as prejudicial to the public interest, and he was later barred from entering at New York as well. Chew filed for habeas corpus, but the Attorney General made the exclusion permanent without ever giving Chew a hearing or disclosing any evidence supporting the exclusion; the district court dismissed his petition and the Second Circuit affirmed, leading to Supreme Court review.