Ex parte Toy Tin

Applicant, a native of China, seeks admission to this country as the 'son of a native-born citizen and resident thereof. His application to enter was denied, and such denial was affirmed on appeal. In the memorandum for the Commissioner, prepared by the inspector in charge of the law section, is found the following statements:

Among the “conditions comprehensively set forth by the examining inspector,” as stated above, is the following:

[1] The view that the citizenship of a person of the Chinese race, who, though born in China, is the son of a native-born American citizen, is a “technical” instead of a real one, seems to have originated in the Bureau at Washington, and to have drifted downwards through the service until it has inoculated the examining inspectors, so that the apparent purpose of their examinations is, not to ascertain the truth, but to exclude all Chinese who, claiming to be citizens by virtue of the citizenship of their fathers, have failed to come to this country during their minority. That the immigration officers have the sole power to pass upon the facts after a fair hearing is not disputed, and has never been disputed, by this court. But the court has…