He filed a petition for naturalization in April 1950, and he was screened and passed by the Coast Guard for employment as a seaman on a merchant vessel in November 1950.

That same month, he became employed as chief steward on the SS Sir John Franklin, a ship registered in the United States with its home port in New York City.

However, as the ship arrived in San Francisco in March 1951, the immigration inspector ordered him "temporarily excluded," under 8 CFR § 175.57, as an alien whose entry was deemed prejudicial to the public interest.

Attorney General J. Howard McGrath, purporting to act under 8 CFR § 175.57(b), ordered Chew's "temporary exclusion be made permanent" and denied him a hearing before a Board of Special Inquiry.

The ruling reversed the Second Circuit's decision and held that the Attorney General lacked the authority under 8 CFR § 175.57(b) to order the exclusion and deportation of a lawful permanent resident "without notice of the charges against him and without opportunity to be heard in opposition to them."