United States v. Thind

Background

A high-caste Hindu man born at Amrit Sar, Punjab, India, had been granted a certificate of citizenship by a federal district court despite an objection by the government’s naturalization examiner. The United States then filed a suit seeking cancellation of that certificate on the ground that the man was not a “white person” as required by the naturalization law, and the appellate court asked the Supreme Court to answer whether he qualified as a “white person” under the statute.

Reasoning

The core question was whether the words “free white persons” in the naturalization statute include this man. The Court explained that those words reflect a racial test understood by the common man, not a technical scientific label, and examined prior decisions and writings. The Court rejected the idea that linguistic or speculative ethnology (like the so-called Aryan theory) could substitute for how people are commonly recognized. It found that Hindus, by ordinary public understanding and physical characteristics, are readily distinguishable from the white groups familiar to the framers and later American communities. The Court also noted a recent law excluding natives of Asia from admission to the country as persuasive of Congress’s attitude toward Asiatic naturalization.

Real world impact

The Court answered the certified question negatively, holding that this high-caste Hindu man is not a “white person” under the statute and therefore is ineligible for naturalization under that law. The ruling means people of similar Asiatic origin will face obstacles to becoming U.S. citizens under the statute, while the broader question of which other Asiatic groups might or might not be included was left for future cases.