Ex parte Fong Chow Oi

Petitioner, claiming to be entitled to admission as a returning native-born citizen of the United States, bearing form 430, was denied admission after hearings before a board of special inquiry, on the ground of failure to establish identity as the person to whom the certificate was issued. She appealed to the Secretary of Labor, and her appeal was denied. Habeas corpus was then applied for, and the matter submitted on briefs, since filed, the government having demurred to the petition. Applicant claimed to be the same Fong Chow Oi to whom a form 430 was issued on departure from San Francisco to China with her parents at the age of 4. The person seeking to return on the certificate is a girl 17 years of age.

On the points made on petition, petitioner apparently did not strongly rely, as no brief was filed on her behalf on submission of the demurrer. The point has since been raised, however, with insistence, that, because petitioner claims as a citizen, with a certificate in her possession showing a preinvestigation of status on departure from the country, the usual administrative procedure is not applicable, and she is entitled to a judicial determination of her claim as an…