[5] After spending 19 months overseas, Mezei was able to secure a quota immigration visa issued by the American Consul in Budapest, Hungary; he then returned to the U.S. aboard a ship bound for Ellis Island.

[6] On February 9, 1950, Ignatz Mezei’s ship arrived in New York where he was informed by an immigration inspector that he was temporarily excluded from the U.S. due to the Passport Act of 1918, as amended.

[7] While the formal charges and evidence against Mezei were unknown to him, he was aware that the IRS wanted to exclude him due to his activities with the Hungarian lodge of the Internal Workers Order (IWO).

Ignatz Mezei was detained for two years on Ellis Island without bail by order of the Attorney General before filing a writ of habeas corpus to the District Court.

[17] Due to the Court finding that Ignatz Mezei’s release into the United States would be prejudicial to the public interest, his continued exclusion on Ellis Island is a pressing issue.

The Court reaffirmed Congress’s meticulously specified statute shelter ashore the U.S., including Ellis Island, is not considered a landing and, therefore, grants no additional rights or protections.

[27] Expanding on this point, the dissenters stated that in situations where indefinite confinement becomes the means to enforcing exclusion, such as in Mezei’s case, due process of the law requires the noncitizen to have a fair open court hearing where transparency is given on the charges against the individual.