Speech #590041095

Mr. Chairman. I have no doubt that there will be some desirable immigrants who can not comply with the provisions of this act and who will be excluded from naturalization. but who would make good citizens. however. on the whole. considering the welfare of all the people of the United States. we believe the educational qualification to be required of all the immigrants. I think I have stated enough in reference to that qualification to have the committee understand that that is the new qualification provided for by the bill. and when we reach the section of the bill that includes this provision it will then be open for discussion upon its merits. I now desire to proceed to outline the other provisions of the bill. The other additional qualification that is required from the alien is that he shall in his petition for naturalization declare that it is his intention to reside permanently in the United States. We have made that requirement for this reason: A great many cases have been called to our attention where immigrants have remained here simply long enough to get their certificates of naturalization and then have returned -to a foreign country. intending to reside permanently in their own country. but to claim the protection of the United States. We think before we should naturalize an alien in this country it ought to be his intention to reside permanently with us. Those are the two additional qualifications for naturalization that we have in this bill. The rest of the bill. Mr. Chairman. is in effect either administrative or provides a code of procedure. stating the method which an alien shall adopt to become naturalized. We provide that the Bureau of Immigration shall be converted into the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization. The purpose of doing that. Mr. Chairman. is that there shall be one central body. having the records of all the immigrants who land upon our shores and general supervision of the subject of naturalization. This particular provision has been recommended to Congress by several of our Presidentsby President Arthur. President Cleveland. and. I think also. by President Roosevelt. Some have recommended that the Bureau should be under the Department of State. but after considering the matter fully. the committee thought it would be best that it should be under the Department of Commerce and Labor. where the Bureau of Immigration now is. - The reasons that controlled us in making that selection are. first. that immigration and naturalization are very closely connected. and all of the records and the statistics relating to immigration being in the Bureau of Immigration. under the Department of Commerce and Labor. it would be more available for the new Bureau of Naturalization if those two were connected. In addition to that we save the expense of establishing a new bureau by consolidating this work which is so intimately connected under the one Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization. Now. in reference to the courts that shall have jurisdiction of the naturalization of aliens. Under the present law the courts in the different States. many of them of very limited jurisdiction. exercise jurisdiction in naturalization cases. I believe that naturalization should be a grave judicial proceeding. that the immigrant should be impressed with the importance of the procedure. and we have provided by this bill that jurisdiction in naturalization cases should be confined to the Federal courts and to the courts in the different States having a seal. a clerk. and jurisdiction in actions at law when the amount in controversy is unlimited. In general. it may be said that that means the highest nisi prius courts in the different States and courts that have unlimited jurisdiction in actions at law. The commission recommended that naturalization should be confined to Federal courts. The committee did not adopt that suggestion for this reason. that it would in some States require the immigrant to travel many hundred miles to go to the place where the Federal court is held. It would concentrate the business so much in the Federal courts that it would practically block naturalization of aliens. so we felt if we gave to the various State courts having unlimited jurisdiction and to the Federal courts that there would be enough courts in the different States to handle this business and at the same time it vould be handled by courts of greater dignity and of more importance.