Case Summary

In October of 1913, Sukutaro Kuwahara, petitioner and husband of the bound party, entered the country from Japan illegally as a stowaway. On December 11th 1914, the petitioner began working for the Eatonville Lumber Company where he worked for five year paying taxes and earning a stable living. On September 29th, 1919, Hisayo Kuwahara, the bound party and wife of the petitioner, entered the country via the S.S. Africa Maru. On October 3rd, 1919, the bound party was denied entry into the Untied States on an appeal to a Board of Special Inquiry. The status of her husband as a stowaway was cited in the decision and was formally denied on the grounds that she would become a public charge. On January 21st, 1920, the petitioner filed a writ of Habeas Corpus on behalf of his wife, the bound party. In the period between the hearing for the case and the filing of the writ, the attorney for the petitioner gathered testimony as to the financial well-being of the petitioner to provide evidence for his ability to support his wife, the bound party. The respondents made a motion to quash the hearing and show cause claiming that the petitioner was part of some "excluded class", possibly referring to the Chinese Exclusion Act. On February 4th, 1920, the Judge, Jeremiah Neterer, ruled that the action should not be quashed and issued the writ the next day. On February 7th, 1920, the writ was granted and the bound party was released from custody.

Case Information

Petition type(s)

• Carceral

Petition subtype(s)

• Violation of immigration act of 1917
• Immigration
• Public charge

Sites of significance

• S.S. Africa Maru (, Washington)

Outcome

Writ allowed

Fate of bound party

Released from custody

Case Citation

RG21 US District Courts, Western District of Washington, Seattle, Records of the Northern Division, Case Files, 1890-1972, No. 5004

Source material(s)

Case File

Length of case file

Between 41 and 50 pages

Repository(s)

• National Archives and Records Administration, Seattle Branch, Washington (Seattle, WA) (Seattle, Washington)

State

• Washington

Point(s) of law cited

Sec. 4289 ¼ JJ Compiled Statutes 1918; Act. Feb. 5, 1917; 39 Stat. at Large, 889

Tag(s)

• Chinese exclusion act on japanese person

People

• Kuwahara, Hisayo (bound party)
• Kuwahara, Sakutaro (petitioner)
• Neterer, Jeremiah (judge)
• Kiefer, James (petitioner attorney)
• Saunders, Robert C. (respondent attorney)
• Saunders, Robert C. (responding party)
• Moore, Ben L. (respondent attorney)
• Moore, Ben L. (responding party)
• White, Henry M. (holding party)
• White, Henry M. (respondent)

• Additional parties

  Dutton, Ethel D. (Clerk to U.S. District Court); Harshberger, F. M. (Clerk); Leitch, D. E. (Deputy Clerk); Galbraith, J. H. (Witness); Ode, R. (Witness); Abel, H. V. (Notary Public); Michelson, L. A. (Notary Public); Laughlor, G. A. (Notary Public); Sargent, John H. (Acting Commissioner of Immigration); Boyle, John M. (U.S. Marhsall); Roore, A. (Deputy U.S. Marshall); Manning, Leeta D. (Deputy Clerk); Uyeno, Kiezo (Cited Person); Uyeno, Ninosuke (Father of Cited Person)