Johsel Namkung v. John P. Boyd, District Director of Immigration and Naturalization at the Port of Seattle, State of Washington

Johsel Namkung, a native and citizen of Korea, was ordered deported from the United States to Korea after an administrative hearing in which it was found 'that at the time of his entry into the United States he was an alien affiliated with the Communist Party of the United States. Namkung does not question the regularity and validity of the deportation order. He does, however, claim that if deported to Korea he will be physically persecuted. His claim for relief was regularly presented under the following statutory authorization:

In the exercise of the power so granted to him, the Attorney General announced a regulation providing for a hearing before an examining officer whenever a claim is made such as the one in suit, which read in part:

Such a hearing was regularly held on December 2, 1953, as to the alien appellant’s claim. Thereafter, on December 14, 1953, the hearing officer, Mr. Robert L. Needham, forwarded to the Assistant Commissioner, Border Patrol, Detention and Deportation Division, Central Office, the transcript of the hearing together with his summary thereof and his recommendation that the claim for relief should be denied. On January 5, 1954, he forwarded to the…