In the case of Lee Gon Yung v. United States in 1901, the U.S Supreme Court ruled on an issue related to immigration law and due process rights. The plaintiff, a Chinese immigrant named Lee Gon Yung, was denied entry into the United States despite having previously lived there and holding a certificate of residence. He had left for China temporarily but upon his return to San Francisco, he was detained by customs officials who claimed that his certificate was fraudulent because it did not match their records. The court held that denying him entry without giving him an opportunity to prove the validity of his certificate violated his right to due process under the Fifth Amendment. This ruling established important precedent regarding procedural fairness in immigration proceedings.

In the dissenting opinion for Lee Gon Yung v. United States, Justice Harlan argued that the majority's decision was a violation of due process rights as guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment. He contended that Chinese immigrants were being denied their right to a fair trial before deportation because they were not given an opportunity to cross-examine witnesses or present evidence in their defense. Furthermore, he believed that it was unconstitutional for Congress to delegate its legislative powers to executive officers who could then make arbitrary decisions about deportations without judicial review. In his view, this case represented an overreach of executive power and a disregard for constitutional protections afforded to all individuals within U.S territory regardless of citizenship status.