Case Sent To Higher Court
The Immigration and Naturalization Service appealed against the judge’s decision to the next higher court, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which sent the case to the U.S. Supreme Court for ruling on the following two questions:
- "Is a high caste Hindu of full Indian blood, born at Amritsar, Punjab, India, a white person within the meaning of section 2169, Revised Statutes?"
- "Does the act of February 5, 1917 (39 Stat. L. 875, section 3) disqualify from naturalization as citizens those Hindus, now barred by that act, who had lawfully entered the United States prior to the passage of said act?"
Section 2169, Revised Statutes, provides that the provisions of the Naturalization Act "shall apply to aliens, being free white persons, and to aliens of African nativity and to persons of African descent."
In preparing briefs for the Ninth Circuit Court, Thind's attorney argued that the Immigration Act of 1917 barred new immigrants from India but did not deny citizenship to Indians who were legally admitted like Thind, before the passage of the new law. The purpose of the Immigration Act was "prospective and not retroactive."
Read more about this topic: Bhagat Singh Thind
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