Nagle

The appellant, Hong Chow Duck, a person of the Chinese race and bom in China, was admitted to the United States at the port of San Franeiseo on January 3,1924, upon the assumption that his father was a merchant domiciled in San Francisco. Subsequent investigation led to his arrest in May, 1927, with a view to his deportation, upon the ground that the representations made at the time of his admission touching his father’s status were unfounded, and that, in fact, the father- was a laborer, and not a merchant. Upon a hearing the Immigration Department found this charge to be trae, and accordingly ordered bis deportation. Thereupon he sought a writ of habeas corpus, and from an order denying his petition he brings this appeal.

It is conceded by both sides that if, upon the evidence adduced before the immigration officials, they should, as a matter of law, have found the requisite mercantile status of the father, the order of dismissal should be reversed; otherwise, it should be affirmed.

The Chinese Exclusion Acts (8 USCA § 289) define “laborer,” as the term is therein used, as meaning “both skilled and unskilled manual laborers, including Chinese employed in mining, fishing,…