United States v. Chan Sam
REITERATIONFacts
The Antecedents: The Acting Collector of Customs for the port of Jolo filed a complaint for the deportation of Chan Sam, a Chinese laborer, for failing to possess the certificate of registration required under Act No. 702. The undisputed facts were that Chan Sam was a Chinese person who entered the Philippine Islands without the consent or knowledge of immigration officers in 1902 or 1903, was a laborer until January 1907, failed to procure the required certificate of registration within the time limited, offered no sufficient excuse for such failure, and remained in the Philippine Islands until his arrest on September 23, 1909. Procedural History: The Court of First Instance of the Fourteenth Judicial District discharged the defendant from custody. The Petition: The plaintiff-appellant (The United States) appealed the decision of the lower court.
Issue(s)
Whether an unregistered Chinese laborer who made an unlawful entry and resided in the Islands as a laborer for two or three years is subject to deportation if he changes his occupation to that of a merchant before an order of deportation is entered. Whether the failure to obtain a certificate of registration renders a Chinese laborer subject to deportation regardless of a subsequent change in occupation.
Ruling
The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the lower court, ordering the deportation of the defendant. Costs were to be borne by the defendant.
Ratio Decidendi
On the issue of whether an unregistered Chinese laborer who made an unlawful entry and resided in the Islands as a laborer is subject to deportation if he changes his occupation to that of a merchant before an order of deportation is entered: The Court held that such a change of occupation does not purge the liability to deportation. The law, specifically section 4 of Act No. 702, mandates the deportation of any Chinese laborer who fails to obtain the required certificate and is found in the Islands after the registration period has expired. No exception is made for a change of status after the individual has become subject to deportation. To allow such an exception would contravene the spirit and intent of the Chinese Immigration Laws, which aim to prohibit Chinese laborers from entering and remaining in the Islands. The Court emphasized that a strained construction that defeats the main object of the statute should not be adopted. The failure to comply with the registration requirements renders the residence unlawful, and this unlawful residence continues until the person is found without the certificate. Consequently, such a person cannot lawfully assume the status of a merchant. On the issue of whether the failure to obtain a certificate of registration renders a Chinese laborer subject to deportation regardless of a subsequent change in occupation: The Court affirmed that the failure to obtain the certificate of registration within the prescribed time makes a Chinese laborer subject to deportation. This liability attaches once the period for registration has elapsed and the individual is found without the certificate. The Court cited the case of The U.S. vs. Chu Chee, which held that a Chinese person who obtains entry into the United States without the required certificate cannot establish a right to remain by proving that since entry they have not been a laborer but have followed an occupation of a privileged class. The reasoning in Chu Chee supports the conclusion that an unlawful entry and subsequent failure to register cannot be purged by a change of occupation. The Court found that the defendant's admitted residence as a laborer after the registration period expired subjected him to deportation, and his subsequent change of occupation did not absolve him of this liability.
Main Doctrine
A Chinese laborer who unlawfully enters the Philippine Islands and fails to secure the required certificate of registration within the prescribed period is subject to deportation, and this liability is not purged by a subsequent change of occupation to that of a merchant.