United States ex rel. Blankenstein v. Shaughnessy

112 F. Supp. 607, 1953 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2809
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedJune 12, 1953
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 112 F. Supp. 607 (United States ex rel. Blankenstein v. Shaughnessy) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States ex rel. Blankenstein v. Shaughnessy, 112 F. Supp. 607, 1953 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2809 (S.D.N.Y. 1953).

Opinion

WEINFELD, District Judge.

Petitioner brings habeas corpus seeking his release upon the ground that he is illegally detained. He was arrested pursuant to an immigration warrant dated May 8th, 1953. He has been confined at Ellis Island since May 6th, 1953. The explanation for his arrest prior to the warrant appears hereafter.

The warrant charges that the alien is deportable on four separate grounds under the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952:

(1) Section 241(a), 8 U.S.C.A. § 1251 (a) : That he was a member of, or affiliated with, the Communist Party of the United States;

(2) Section 241(a) (2), 8 U.S.C.A. § 1251 (a) (2): That' he entered the United States without inspection;

[609]*609(3) Section 241(a) (1), 8 U.S.C.A. § 1251 (a) (1) : That at the time of entry he was excludable as a person who had been arrested and deported pursuant to law, the proper authority not having granted permission to apply for admission under § 1(a) of the Act of March 4th, 1929, 8 U.S.C.A. § 180; and

(4) Section 241(a) (1), 8 U.S.C.A. § 1251 (a) (1) : That at the time of entry he was not in possession of a valid registration visa in violation of § 13(a) of the Act of May 26th, 1924, 8 U.S.C.A. § 213(a).

Petitioner claims he first entered the United States in 1906, whereas the government asserts it was in 1921. Since 1940 he has registered from time to time as an alien.

On May 6th, 1953, he appeared upon request at the office of the Immigration and Naturalization Service in New York City, where he was arrested upon a warrant of deportation, almost thirty years old, dated May 24th, 1924.

This warrant sets forth that petitioner is deportable as a member of an organization advocating the overthrow of our government by force and violence and directs his deportation to Russia. The issuance of the final order and the warrant for relator’s deportation followed hearings conducted in 1922 while he was serving a prison sentence in Pennsylvania for violation of its Anti-Sedition Act. 18 P.S. § 4207. The warrant issued in May 1924 could not be immediately executed following his release since the Russian Government declined to authorize his admission into that country — a general policy which it has applied -through the years to all persons sought to be deportable by our government as subversives or otherwise undesirable aliens. But in May 1930, according to the government’s return, the relator left the United States by arrangement with the Russian authorities to carry on his activities in behalf of the world Communist movement abroad. It is asserted that petitioner reentered this country some time in 1931 or 1932 by fraudulently claiming to be a citizen or by assuming a false identity, an allegation which he neither denies nor affirms, and, hence, must be deemed for the purposes of this proceeding as true.1

According to relator when he appeared at the office of the Immigration and Naturalization Service on May 6th, 1953, he was handed a copy of the 1924 warrant of deportation and arrested thereunder. He promptly objected on the ground that since more than six months had elapsed since the date of the 1924 warrant, his detention violated § 242(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, 66 Stat. 163, which provides:

“When a final order of deportation under administrative processes is made against any alien, the Attorney General shall have a period of six months from the date of such order, or, if judicial review is had, then from the date of the final order of the court, within which to effect the alien’s departure from the United States, during which period, at the' Attorney General’s discretion, the' alien may be detained, released on bond in an amount and containing such conditions as the Attorney General may prescribe, or released on such other condition as the Attorney General may prescribe.”

Apparently, the authorities agreed with him or felt there was some substance to his position, for, on May 8th, 1953, they issued the warrant of arrest based upon various violations of the Immigration and Nationality Law, which have been enumerated above. One of the four charges, as noted, is based upon the prior deportation order and his reentry thereafter.

The relator now attacks .the legality of the warrant of arrest dated May 8th, 1953, and the proceedings initiated thereunder, contending that the Attorney General is compelled to reinstate the order of deportation of May 1924, and “that there is no statutory authority to institute deportation proceedings ab initio” against him. He urges that the “sole and exclusive” remedy for deporting him is governed by § 242(f) [610]*610of the Immigration and Nationality Act, since the basis of the prior order for his deportation was on a ground enumerated in § 242(e). Section 242(f) of the Act provides:

“Should the Attorney General find that any alien has unlawfully reentered the United States after having previously departed or been deported pursuant to an order of deportation, whether before or after June 27, 1952, on any ground described in any of the paragraphs enumerated in subsection (e) of this section, the previous order of deportation shall be deemed to be reinstated from its original date and such alien shall be deported under such previous order at any time subsequent to such reentry. For the purposes of subsection (e) of this section the date on which the finding is made that such reinstatement is appropriate shall be deemed the date of the final order of deportation.”

Since the 1924 warrant of deportation was based upon his membership or affiliation with groups advocating the overthrow of the government by force and violence, it appears to come within the groups enumerated in subsection (e) of § 242, to wit, § 241(a) (6) (B) of the Act.

There is no automatic reinstatement of the previous order of deportation. Section 242(f) specifically provides: “Should the Attorney General find that any alien has unlawfully reentered the United States after having previously departed or been deported pursuant to an order of deportation, * * * the previous order of deportation shall, be deemed to be reinstated from its original date * * (Emphasis supplied.) Thus, the Attorney General is required to make a finding (1) that the alien whose deportation is now sought is the same person against whom the previous order of deportation was issued; (2) that he either previously departed or had been deported as a member of the classes enumerated in § 242(e) of the Act;, and (3) that he had unlawfully reentered. 8 CFR § 242.75. Then, and only then, is the previous order of deportation reinstated. And such findings by the Attorney General may be made only after notice of the charge to the alien and a hearing thereon. Section 242(b) of the Act, 8 U.S.C.A. § 1252 (b); see also 8 CFR § 242.73. In other words, a charge that an alien is deportable because he illegally reentered after he had either departed or had been deported under a prior order of deportation is treated, with exceptions not here material, in the same manner as any other charge upon which an alien’s deportation is sought.

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Bluebook (online)
112 F. Supp. 607, 1953 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2809, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-ex-rel-blankenstein-v-shaughnessy-nysd-1953.