In the 1957 case Leng May Ma v. Barber, District Director, Immigration and Naturalization Service, the U.S Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Chinese immigrant who was seeking asylum in the United States. The plaintiff, Leng May Ma claimed that she would face persecution if forced to return to China due to her political beliefs and affiliations. The court held that an alien physically present in America could not be deported without first being given an opportunity for a hearing on their eligibility for asylum under Section 243(h) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). This ruling established important precedent regarding procedural rights during deportation proceedings.

In the dissenting opinion for Leng May Ma v. Barber, Justice William O. Douglas argued that the majority's decision was a misinterpretation of immigration law and an overreach of judicial authority. He contended that Congress had not intended to give discretionary power to exclude immigrants based on their political beliefs or associations when it passed the Immigration Act of 1917 and subsequent laws. Furthermore, he believed that such discretion should be used sparingly and only in cases where there is clear evidence of potential harm to national security or public safety. In this case, he saw no such threat from Mrs. Ma who was merely seeking admission into the U.S as a refugee fleeing persecution in her home country due to her political affiliations with anti-communist groups.