Hugo Black

“ While Congress did not carry the words 'firmly resettled' over into the 1957, 1960, and 1965 Acts from the earlier legislation, Congress did introduce a new requirement into the 1957 Act-the requirement of 'flight.' The 1957 Act, as well as the present law, speaks of persons who have 'fled' to avoid persecution. [4] Both the terms 'firmly resettled' and 'fled' are closely related to the central theme of all 23 years of refugee legislation-the creation of a haven for the world's homeless people. ”

“ Certainly many refugees make their escape to freedom from persecution in successive stages and come to this country only after stops along the way. Such stops do not necessarily mean that the refugee's aim to reach these shores has in any sense been abandoned. ”

“ The 1957 Act was then followed by the Fair Share Refugee Act of 1960, 74 Stat. 504, which defined 'refugee' as one 'not a national of the area in which the application is made, and (3) (who) is within the mandate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.' Finally, the present legislation was added to the Immigration and Nationality Act in 1965. From the 1957 abandonment of the words 'firmly resettled' the Court of Appeals determined that Congress had purposely rejected 'resettlement' as a test for eligibility for refugee status. ”

“ It is one of the factors which the Immigration and Naturalization Service must take into account to determine whether a refugee seeks asylum in this country as a consequence of his flight to avoid persecution. ”

“ Had he been a national he of course would have been entitled to remain here. Section 203 (a) (7) (A) (iii) applies only to applications for conditional entry into this country made to Immigration and Naturalization officers authorized to accept such applications at points outside the United States.
Because it was under the erroneous impression that resettlement was irrelevant to refugee status under § 203 (a) (7) , the Court of Appeals failed to review the District Court's finding that respondent had never firmly resettled in Hong Kong. ”

“ In 1965 respondent's wife and son obtained temporary visitor's permits and joined him in this country. By 1966 all three had overstayed their permits and were no longer authorized to remain in this country. ”