United States Ex Rel. Claussen v. Day

Background

A Danish native and seaman entered U.S. ports several times after first landing in 1912. He sailed from New York on October 19, 1917, to South America and Cuba and landed at Boston on March 26, 1918. He later lived and worked ashore, sought to naturalize in 1919, and in June 1921 pleaded guilty to manslaughter and received more than one year in prison. The Labor Department served a deportation warrant and ordered deportation after a hearing. The legal dispute centers on whether his sentence occurred within five years after an "entry" into the United States under the Immigration Act of 1917.

Reasoning

The main question was what counts as an "entry" for the five-year rule. The Court explained that an entry means coming into the United States from a foreign port or place. It rejected the idea that merely boarding or sailing on an American ship abroad creates a new entry. The Court found that the seaman left the United States, visited foreign ports, and then landed at Boston on March 26, 1918, which qualified as an entry. Because his 1921 sentence occurred within five years of that 1918 landing, the statute applied and deportation was authorized. The Labor Department’s position prevailed.

Real world impact

The decision clarifies that returning to the United States from foreign ports starts the five-year deportation clock. Noncitizen seamen and other aliens who re-enter after foreign voyages may face deportation if convicted and sentenced within five years of that return. The ruling affects how immigration officials and courts time deportation eligibility under the 1917 Act.