Bugajewitz v. Adams

Background

A noncitizen woman was arrested in August 1910 after an acting Cabinet official ordered an immigrant inspector to take her into custody and give her a hearing to explain why she should not be deported. The arrest order said she was then working as a prostitute, had been a prostitute when she entered the country, and had entered for prostitution or another immoral purpose. She denies some allegations, but the record at least shows she was a prostitute when arrested. A 1907 law had required deportation of an alien woman found practicing prostitution within three years of entry; a 1910 amendment removed that three-year limit while referring to other sections that describe deportation procedures.

Reasoning

The Court first decided the technical question about the time limit, concluding that striking the three-year clause removed the restriction and that the reference to procedural sections did not preserve the old limit. On the constitutional claim, the Court relied on established precedents that Congress may deport noncitizens it considers harmful. The opinion explained that determining facts like prostitution is not the same as a criminal conviction and that deportation is a refusal to harbor an unwanted person rather than punishment. The Court also held the ban on ex post facto laws did not apply and that it was unnecessary to read the statute as applying retroactively to the petitioner.

Real world impact

The decision affirms that the federal government can detain and deport a noncitizen woman found practicing prostitution even if more than three years have passed since entry. It confirms deportation is treated as a civil removal power, not a criminal penalty, and rejects the petitioner’s constitutional objections.