Source: http://supreme.nolo.com/us/374/469/case.html
Timestamp: 2020-03-30 11:16:36
Document Index: 224543201

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 241', '§ 1251', '§ 241', '§ 22', '§ 241', '§ 241']

GASTELUM-QUINONES V. KENNEDY, 374 U. S. 469 - Volume 374 - 1963 - Full Text - US Supreme Court Center - USSC Cases - Nolo
US Supreme Court Center > Volume 374 > GASTELUM-QUINONES V. KENNEDY, 374 U. S. 469 (1963) > Full Text
This case, stripped of its procedural complexities, raises the question whether an alien long resident in this country is deportable because, for a period during 1949 and 1950, he paid dues to and attended several meetings of a club of the Communist Party in Los Angeles. The Immigration and Naturalization Service sought and obtained an order for petitioner's deportation on the ground that these facts established petitioner's membership in the Communist Party of the United States within the meaning of § 241(a)(6)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, 66 Stat. 163, 204-205, 8 U.S.C. § 1251(a)(6)(C). [Footnote 1] Whether membership was so established turns on the application of two decisions of this Court which construed the immediate predecessor of § 241(a)(6)(C), § 22 of the Internal Security Act of 1950, 64 Stat. 987, 1006, 1008. In Galvan v. Press, 347 U. S. 522, 347 U. S. 528, it was held that deportability on the ground of Communist Party membership turns on whether the alien was "aware that he was joining an organization known as the Communist Party which operates as a distinct and active political organization . . . ," and
it did condition deportability on the alien's awareness of the "distinct and active political" nature of the Communist Party, ibid. This, together with the requirement of "meaningful association" enunciated in Rowoldt, supra, at 355 U. S. 120, led the Court to declare later that in Galvan and Rowoldt, it
of petitioner's association with the Party, either directly, by showing that he was, during the time of his membership, sensible to the Party's nature as a political organization, or indirectly, by showing that he engaged in Party activities to a degree substantially supporting an inference of his awareness of the Party's political aspect. [Footnote 6]
In one sense, indeed, this record is even less substantial in support of the deportation order than was the record in Rowoldt, because, although Rowoldt stated that he joined thinking the Party's aim was "to get something to eat for the people," 355 U.S. at 355 U. S. 117, it was also true that he had worked as a salesman in a bookstore which was "an official outlet for communist literature," id. at 355 U. S. 118, and that he showed some awareness of Communist philosophy and tactics in response to questioning by the immigration inspector. Bearing in mind that the ultimate burden in deportation cases such as this is on the Government, it is apparent that here, as in Rowoldt, there is insufficient evidence to support the deportation order. [Footnote 7]
As against the slimness of the evidence that it introduced, the Government seeks the benefit of an inference, based upon petitioner's failure to produce or elicit evidence in response to the Government's proof that he paid dues to the Party and attended some meetings, that his association with the Party was "more than the mere voluntary listing of . . . [his] name on Party rolls." Scales, supra, at 367 U. S. 222. It is a sufficient answer to the Government's argument to point out that, as recognized in Galvan, supra, at 347 U. S. 530, and Rowoldt, supra, at 355 U. S. 120, deportation is a drastic sanction, one which can destroy lives and disrupt families, and that a holding of deportability must therefore be premised upon evidence of "meaningful association" more directly probative than a mere inference based upon the alien's silence. [Footnote 8] Moreover, the fact is that the Government might well have asked its two witnesses about petitioner's knowledge of the Party as a political entity and about the qualitative nature of petitioner's activities in the Party. If it were the fact that petitioner was more aware of the Party's nature than this record shows, the Government's witnesses could likely have given testimony, either about petitioner's knowledge or about his Party activities, which would have tended to prove that awareness. With the facts concerning the nature of petitioner's association perhaps near at hand, and in light of both the possibility that those facts would not be consistent with a finding of "meaningful association" and the harshness of the deportation sanction, we cannot sustain petitioner's deportation upon a bare inference which the Government would have us derived from petitioner's failure to introduce evidence in
Communist Party. The special inquiry officer found petitioner deportable under § 241(a)(6)(C) and the Board of Immigration Appeals dismissed the petitioner's appeal on November 14, 1957, holding that the evidence established a prima facie case of membership which petitioner made no attempt to rebut. On January 13, 1958, after this Court's decision in Rowoldt v. Perfetto, 355 U. S. 115, the Board of Immigration Appeals reconsidered petitioner's case in light of Rowoldt. Noting that, unlike the petitioner in Rowoldt, petitioner here had offered no evidence which would upset the normal inference of political awareness flowing from his two-year association with the Communist Party at a time when the purposes and activities of the Party were a matter of public record, the Board granted petitioner's request to reopen the proceedings in order that he might present testimony which would bring him within Rowoldt. At the reopened hearings, however, petitioner offered no evidence, but merely introduced a statement asserting that the existing record did not establish meaningful membership and suggesting that the Government present additional evidence. The special inquiry officer, after reexamining the record, adhered to his original conclusion that the evidence showed voluntary, meaningful membership in the Communist Party. On appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals, that body, after examining the record again, reaffirmed its decision that the testimony established meaningful membership within the Rowoldt case. Petitioner filed a petition for declaratory and injunctive relief in the District Court to review the deportation order and, after still another examination of the order and the supporting record, the court granted the Board's motion for summary judgment. The Court of Appeals held that "the findings of the Board that [petitioner's] Party membership was meaningful is established by the record," 109 U.S.App.D.C. 267, 271, 286 F.2d 824, 828,
Petitioner thereupon commenced the proceedings which bring the case before us today. He filed a motion to reopen the proceedings before the Board of Immigration Appeals on the ground that he should be permitted to testify that he never personally advocated the overthrow of the Government by force and violence. While not disputing that an inquiry into whether an alien personally advocated violent overthrow is immaterial in deportation proceedings, Galvan v. Press, 347 U. S. 522, petitioner nonetheless insisted upon introducing the testimony because, as he read the opinion of the Court of Appeals, 109 U.S.App.D.C. 267, 286 F.2d 824, proof that an alien did not personally espouse the cause of violent overthrow of the Government would save him from deportation under § 241(a)(6)(C). The Board of Immigration Appeals declined to reopen the proceedings again because, in its view, the Court of Appeals did not announce the rule on which petitioner relied, and because Galvan v. Press and Rowoldt v. Perfetto so clearly held that proof of such a personal commitment to the tenet of violent overthrow was not required for deportation proceedings. After reviewing the record for the third time, the Board concluded that "there is uncontradicted testimony to show that a voluntary meaningful membership existed." Petitioner filed his second action for judicial review, contending that the refusal to reopen the hearings so that he could submit his testimony was "erroneous, unconstitutional and illegal." The District Court, finding no abuse of discretion in the Board's refusal to reopen the proceedings, declined to disturb the deportation order. The Court of Appeals affirmed, the case was brought here, and the Court now reverses. I respectfully dissent.
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