## Facts

- Takao Ozawa was a person of the Japanese race, born in Japan, who had lived in the United States for about 20 years, including in Hawaii.
- Ozawa was educated in the United States, used English at home, raised his children in American schools, and participated in American religious institutions.
- Ozawa’s character and education were conceded to be sufficient for citizenship aside from statutory eligibility restrictions.
- Federal naturalization law restricted eligibility to “free white persons” and to “aliens of African nativity and persons of African descent” under Revised Statutes § 2169.
- Ozawa applied for naturalization in the United States District Court for the Territory of Hawaii; the United States opposed the petition.

## Issues

1. Whether the Naturalization Act of June 29, 1906 displaced or repealed Revised Statutes § 2169’s racial eligibility limits.
2. If § 2169 remained in force, whether a Japanese person born in Japan qualified as a “free white person” eligible for naturalization.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court unanimously held that Revised Statutes § 2169 was not repealed by the Naturalization Act of 1906 and continued to limit who could naturalize.
- The Court interpreted “white person” in § 2169 to mean persons of the Caucasian race as understood in the racial sense when the term was adopted.
- The Court concluded that a Japanese person born in Japan was not Caucasian and therefore was ineligible for naturalization.
- The denial of Ozawa’s naturalization petition was upheld.

## Legal Principles

- Later procedural naturalization legislation does not impliedly repeal a prior statute’s substantive eligibility limits absent inconsistency or clear congressional intent.
- Statutory interpretation generally begins with ordinary meaning, but courts may consider purpose and historical usage where literal readings would conflict with the statute’s design.
- Under Revised Statutes § 2169, “free white persons” was construed as a racial classification limited to persons of the Caucasian race, and personal assimilation or favorable character could not substitute for racial eligibility.

## Conclusion

The Court held that racial restrictions in Revised Statutes § 2169 remained controlling after the 1906 naturalization law and that “white person” meant Caucasian; because Ozawa was Japanese and not Caucasian, he was statutorily barred from naturalization despite long residence and assimilation.


Ozawa v. United States, 260 U.S. 178 (1922)