Biography
William “Bill” Heikkila was a Finnish-born San Francisco draftsman brought to the United States as an infant. Immigration officials pursued his deportation over former Communist Party membership. Agents seized him after work on April 18, 1958, took him through Canada, held him in the Vancouver city jail, and flew him to Finland while his court challenge remained pending. After the government acknowledged an error, it returned him to San Francisco on April 25 and released him at the airport. He died on May 7, 1960 while the deportation litigation was still pending.
