The U.S. Supreme Court case Commissioner of Immigration of Port of New York v. Gottlieb et al., 1923, revolved around the issue of immigration and deportation. The respondents were two Russian immigrants who had been ordered to be deported due to their affiliation with an organization advocating for the overthrowing government by force or violence - a violation under the Immigration Act of 1918. However, they argued that they ceased being members before receiving notice about their deportation proceedings and hence should not be deported based on past membership alone. The court ruled in favor of Gottlieb et al., stating that mere past membership was insufficient grounds for deportation unless it could be proven that at the time when proceedings began, they were still affiliated with such organizations.

The dissenting opinion in the case of Commissioner of Immigration of Port of New York v. Gottlieb et al., 1923, argued that the majority's decision to deport an immigrant based on a law passed after his arrival was fundamentally unjust and violated principles of ex post facto laws. The justice contended that it was unfair to apply new immigration laws retroactively, especially when those laws could result in deportation or other severe consequences for individuals who had entered the country legally under previous regulations. He further asserted that such application not only contradicted established legal norms but also undermined basic notions of fairness and due process rights protected by the Constitution.