United States v. Butt, 254 U.S. 38 (1920)
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United States v. Butt
No. 275
Submitted October 18, 1920
Decided November 8, 1920
254 U.S. 38
ERROR TO THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
Syllabus
An indictment for unlawfully bringing Chinese aliens into the United States will lie under § 8 of the Immigration Act of February 5, 1917, where the acts charged do not go far enough to amount to a landing in violation of § 11 of the Chinese Exclusion Act of July 5, 1884. P. 41.
Reversed.
Writ of error under the Criminal Appeals Act (c. 2564, 34 Stat. 1246), to review a judgment sustaining a motion to quash an indictment charging defendant with bringing certain Chinese aliens into the United States, viz., into the bay and port of San Francisco by vessel, in violation of § 8 of the Immigration Act of February 5, 1917, c. 29, 39 Stat. 880, which reads as follows:
That any person, including the master, agent, owner, or consignee of any vessel, who shall bring into or land in the United States,
by vessel or otherwise, or shall attempt, by himself or through another, to bring into or land in the United States, by vessel or otherwise, or shall conceal or harbor, or attempt to conceal or harbor, or assist or abet another to conceal or harbor in any place, including any building, vessel, railway car, conveyance, or vehicle any alien not duly admitted by an immigrant inspector or not lawfully entitled to enter or to reside within the United States under the terms of this Act, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $2,000 and by imprisonment for a term not exceeding five hears for each and every alien so landed or brought in or attempted to be landed or brought in.
The Chinese Exclusion Act of July 5, 1884, c. 220, § 11, 23 Stat. 117, provides:
That any person who shall knowingly bring into or cause to be brought into the United States by land, or who shall aid or abet the same, or aid or abet the landing in the United States from any vessel, of any Chinese person not lawfully entitled to enter the United States shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, on conviction thereof, be fined in a sum not exceeding one thousand dollars and imprisoned for a term not exceeding one year.