Matter of Ching and Chen

Ching and Chen (plaintiffs), Chinese citizens transiting through Los Angeles on a commercial flight, were denied entry as transit-without-visa passengers and directed by immigration officers to be returned to Hong Kong; while awaiting removal in the airline's custody, they escaped the airport and were caught two days later on a Texas bus. The INS (defendant) placed them in exclusion proceedings, but they argued they should face only deportation proceedings because their escape constituted an entry without inspection, citing a precedent where a stowaway who escaped carrier custody and remained in the U.S. for two years was deemed to have entered; the INS instead relied on a case holding that an alien who escaped an INS detention facility while awaiting exclusion hearings had not entered. The immigration judge sided with Ching and Chen and terminated exclusion proceedings; the INS appealed.