Speech #590088958

Sir. I believe the election laws ought to prevent anyone from participating in elections in this country until he has become a citizen of the United States. There have been numerous frauds committed against the naturalization laws. chiefly in the large cities of the country. These frauds have been induced in the main by the desire to vote. to secure protection abroad. and to secure rights and privileges under the labor laws of some of the States and municipalities. which prevent anyone who is not a citizen of the United States from being employed in any public work. An alien who has declared his intention to become a citizen and yet can not comply with the requirement that he shall read and understand the English language in order to consummate his citizenship is denied employment in any kind of public work in a number of the States and cities. I have been informed that the State Department has considered a possible modification of treaties with foreign countries in order that immigrants from those countries may be entitled during their sojourn here to all the privileges and immunities of citizenship in so far as industrial rights are concerned. It would. in my judgment. be of very doubtful propriety for the Government to enter into treaties of that character. It would most likely excite deep feeling and hostility on the part of. States and municipalities. I desire to call the attention of the House especially to the abuses that grow out of the right of protection of naturalized citizens in foreign countries. A great many aliens come to this country. remain long enough to comply with the naturalization laws and secure certificates of citizenship. then return to the country of their nativity. take up permanent residence therehi. and claim protection of the United States as American citizens. Many fraudulent certificates of citizenship have been issued to this class of aliens.. Many certificates that are pure forgeries have been sold and claim has been made thereunder for the protection of this country in foreign lands. Abuses have become such that it is a constant source of embarrassment and irritation between the United States and certain foreign governments. It is the policy of our laws to issue passports to all citizens who desire to travel abroad and to protect naturalized citizens in foreign countries to the same extent as native citizens are protected. The laws of the country and the policy of the Government have made absolutely no distinction between native and naturalized citizens either at home or abroad. and they should make no distinction. When an alien becomes a citizen of the United States in good faith he is entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizenship wherever he may rightfully be. whether at home or abroad. but if an alien comes here with the intention of remaining only long enough to become naturalized and then to go to a foreign country for permanent domicile and claim the protection of this Government. it is a fraud not only against the United States. but it would be a fraud against the country to which he went to live. In all of the nonChristian countries. excepting Japan. and in some semibarbarous countries the United States. under Rpecial treaties. secures to American citizens living in those countries the right to be tried upon criminal charges. not under the laws and in the courts of those countries. but in American consular courts in accordance with American law and usages. This is what is called "the policy of extraterritoriality." It is the boast of this Government that it adequately safeguards the rights of citizens who are on trial for life or liberty. and the fact that these safeguards may be carried by American citizens into foreign countries where the rights and privileges of the individual are not so sacredly considered. is a privilege of inestimable value. but it is designed only for real American citizens. . A considerable number of our foreignborn population secure passports to foreign countries within a few months after they become citizens. and many of them never return to the United States and never expect to return when they leave this country bearing with them certificates of American citizenship. A great deal of irritation has been created. particularly In parts of Turkey. by subjects of that Empire who have come to America and gotten certificates of naturalization. returned there as permanent residents. and claimed protection of the American Government. Serious international troubles may possibly arise from this situation. and it is highly important that the Government protect itself as far as possible against this source of fraud and danger. It is said that there are over a thousand natives of Turkey who are permanently residing in the city of Jerusalem at this time who hold certificates and passports as American citizens and who claim the rights of American citizens in the country of their origin under the provisions of existing treaties. The Commission on Naturalization. speaking of this class of men. said: It appears from the records of the passport bureau of the State Department that approximately 16 per cent of the naturalized citizens who apply for passports are naturalized within six months of the date of their applicationthat Is to say. they are naturalized. It Is fair to assume. afler they have determined to go abroad. Living in this country as aliens. they avoid the responsibility and duties of citizens. going abroad. they secure one of thehighest privileges of citizenshipthat of protection In case of need while in a foreign state. Some of them have come to the United States for no other purpose than to escape the duties of citizenship in their parent state and remain here only long enough to become naturalized as American citizens. when they leave our jurisdiction. President Grant. in 1869. In his first annual message to Congress. in discussing this class of people. said: They reside permanently away from the United States. they contribute nothing to its revenues. they avoid the duties of citizenship. and they only make themselves known by a claim for protection. Legislation has been repeatedly recommended by various Presidents that would authorize the State Department to relieve the Federal Government from the embarrassment of dealing with this class of individuals. The trouble is not confined to aliens who return to the couhtry of their nativity. but many aliens secure naturalization under our laws. obtain American passports. and go to countries in the West Indies to carry on business. to live permanently. and claim protection as American citizens there. Abuses of the rights of citizenship came to be so grievous and a cause of so much trouble to the Government that some years ago the State Department.. without express authority of law. issued instructions to American diplomatic and consular representatives in foreign countries that where one born abroad had obtained naturalization under our laws and had returned to the country of his origin or to any other foreign country and taken up a permanent domicile and continued to remain therein for a period of five years. with no apparent intention of returning to the United States. that the protection accorded to American citizens should be withdrawn from him. Citizenship is conferred upon aliens with the implied understanding that they are to become permanent residents of the United States. and for the rights and privileges they receive by virtue of their acquired citizenship they are in duty bound to yield allegiance to this Government. to contribute toward its maintenance. and assist in its defense. The class of individuals to which I have referred voluntarily expatriate themselves. and for all practical purposes become foreigners.