OPINION NO. 256, s. 1952

Date:    November 4, 1952

Source:    Department of Justice

Subject:    Request for Opinion on Whether or Not Aliens Operating Houses of Prostitution and Gambling May Be Deported by Force of Law.

This is in connection with your request for opinion on whether or not aliens operating houses of prostitution and gambling may be deported by force of law.

There can be no doubt that where the alien is found guilty of operating a house of prostitution, he may be deported therefore. For Section 37 (5), of the Immigration Law (Commonwealth Act No. 613, as amended by Republic Act No. 503) expressly specifies, as one of the grounds for the deportation of an alien, the fact that he "practices prostitution or is an inmate of a house of prostitution or is connected with the management of a house of prostitution, or is a procurer".

With respect to the operation of houses of gambling, although such an act has not been specifically mentioned in the Immigration Law (as aforecited) as among the grounds for the deportation of an alien, it might fall within the purview of Section 69 of the Revised Administrative Code which authorizes the President of the Philippines upon prior investigation conducted by him or by his authorized agent to deport, expel, or exclude from the Philippines a subject of a foreign power. This provision has been implemented by Executive Order No. 7, series 1946 (amending E.O. No. 33, series 1936, as amended by E.O. No. 257, series 1940) which authorizes the Deportation Board to "take action on all complaints that certain persons in the Philippines are undesirable aliens and conduct investigations thereon in the manner prescribed in Section 69 of the Administrative Code and thereafter to recommend the deportation of aliens in such cases as may require it."

The above-quoted provision mentions a very broad ground for deportation of aliens when it uses the term "undesirable aliens". Nowhere in our law is there a provision defining this term or enumerating acts which would constitute "undesirability". The nearest attempt at a definition of the term was made by the Supreme Court of the United States in construing the provision of a law authorizing the deportation of undesirable aliens when that tribune said that Congress, in granting such authority, was "in the exercise of its unquestioned right, only seeking to rid the country of persons who had shown, by their career, that their continued presence here would not make for the safety or welfare of society". The court also referred to the Naturalization Law of 1802 which denied naturalization to any alien who did not appear to the court "to have behaved during his residence in this country, as a man of good moral character, attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States, and well disposed to the good order and happiness of the same" and went on to say that the history of the United States has created a common understanding of the words "undesirable resident" (Mahler v. Eby, 264, U.S., 31.). This precedent might furnish a guide in determining whether an alien is "undesirable" – that is, whether his continued presence in the Philippines would not make for the safety, welfare, happiness, or good order of Philippine society. It would not be far-fetched to conclude that when an alien operates a house of gambling, his act would not make for the safety or welfare of society.

Premises considered, the undersigned is of the opinion that the operation of houses of prostitution is a ground for deportation under the Immigration Law and that the operation of houses of gambling might also be considered such a ground under the law authorizing the Deportation Board to recommend the deportation of "undesirable aliens."