As you study the Chinese Exclusion Act, you're probably asking the obvious question: "What about people of Chinese descent who were born in the United States?"

Good job, because we're getting there. Ju Toy was a man of Chinese descent born into the United States. Ju visited China, and when he was barred from coming home to the U.S., he took the government to court and won. That's right, a Federal District Court ruled that he was a U.S. native and had committed no crime.

Obviously, right?

Well, the government appealed the decision and it went to the Supreme Court. That's where Ju lost, and even worse, his defeat had consequences beyond the case. Before this time, Chinese people victimized by the Chinese Exclusion Act and related laws fought back through the courts, and much of the time they won. The usual tactic was through a petition of habeas corpus.

Habeas corpus, for those non-lawyers, is a petition where someone can report being detained unlawfully. This is the "you can't hold me for no reason" idea. This case helped provide precedence for removing the ability of Chinese people arrested under immigration laws from using habeas corpus. In effect, a Chinese person could be held for any reason.