United States Ex Rel. Lapides v. Watkins

CHASE, Circuit Judge.

This appeal presents questions as to the correct procedure for determining the admissibility of one who seeks to enter the United States not as an alien but as an American citizen. The appellant asserts that under such circumstances the applicant for admission may not be detained at the border by the immigration authorities but must be admitted pending the determination in appropriate judicial proceedings of his right to enter as a citizen.

The facts are not in dispute. The appellant, a native of what is now Roumania, first entered the United States in 1922. On June 27,…