Lee Fong Fook v. Wixon

Appellant arrived at the port of San Francisco on his return from a visit to China and was there detained by the immigration authorities. After a hearing before a board of special inquiry he was denied admission on a finding that he is an alien immigrant without visa. He thereafter entered an appeal to the Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization. Pending the appeal he petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus asserting that he is an American citizen by birth and that his detention is unlawful.

The court issued the writ, to which the district director made a return incorporating the…