Speech #700187081

Requires new declarations of intention after registry. old declaration of intentions declared invalid. Sixth. Provides any naturalized citizen taking an oath of allegiance to a foreign country to lose his citizenship. Seventh. A photograph shall be required on each certificate of entry. My present remarks will be addressed to these proposed changes. The first change made by the House was to enable the Commissioner General of Immigration to legalize the entry of all immigrants who have arrived in the United States prior to July 1. 1924. The House wants to make that change as of June 3. 1921. which is the date of the original quota law. I am opposed to this change of date. which the Committee on Immigration of the House saw fit to impose. as against the Senate provision making July 1. 1924. the effective date. at which time the alien must have been properly admitted if he is to take advantage of our naturalization laws. The situation briefly is as follows: Formerly there was much less attention paid to recording our aliens entering into the United States than is the case today. The result is that thousands of aliens have come into this country openly and above board without any record of their entry being made. Most of these people fall into two groups. They are those who came over our land boundaries. particularly from Canada. without our immigration inspectors making any inspection of them. Examination of immigrants was not done as thoroughly then as it is now. Up to 1907 there was no head tax imposed on a Canadian or on a person who had lived in Canada for one year. and this absence of any financial obligation connected with entrance led to laxness in registering aliens. Furthermore and more important. the provision of the naturalization law of 1906 requiring registering of all aliens who had entered the United States after June 29. 1906. was overlooked for a number of years by the administrators of the immigration law. It was overlooked because this provision is a section of the law regulating naturalization and not a part of our immigration laws. As a result many persons entered from Canada without being registered. People drove over the border in buggies or came in on trains without even seeing an immigration inspector. Responsibility for this situation rests clearly on our Government and not on the immigrant. who was innocent of any intention of violating our laws. The other group. which is large. comprises those who came in as seamen at a time when our seamens laws were not as strict as they are today. and who have left their vessels and went to work in the United States. remaining here permanently. Of course. there is no record of. their entry. although these men clearly did not intend to enter this country illegally. There are also aliens who were brought here in infancy and who can give no information as to the place or date of their entry. These people. for the most part. have settled down in our country. have taken their places in our commercial industrial life. have married and raised families. and have become respected members of our communities. and yet. strictly speaking. they can not be deemed to be admitted legally and. technically speaking. are improperly in the United States. The legal situation confronting these aliens is as follows: The naturalization law of 1906 requires an immigrant seeking citizenship to furnish a certificate of arrival. The only way he can meet this requirement. unless he can establish the fact that he had entered the country prior to 1906 and has since continuously resided here. is through the official record of his entry. If there is no such record. he is without any legal status as a resident alien. other than the fact that he is not subject to deportation. provided he has resided here continuously for three years or five years. as the case may be. We suffer him to remain. but as a sort of a legal outcast. This means that he can not become a citizen. It means that he cani not obtain a permit for reentry. If he should leave the United States for a visit or on temporary work. he might be prevented from returning until he had obtained an immigration visa. which. on account of full quotas. might hold him up for several years. If he should make such a trip out of the country. should return and this fact should be discovered at any time thereafter. under the provisions of the 1924 law. he might be subject to deportation as an illegal entrant. The change. as has been said. is of the date from which this entry is to be made legal. rather than on the principles of the bill itself. The Senate very properly fixed the date as of July 1. 1924. This was the date which was continually recommended by our Secretary of Labor. and I am now quoting from his report in 1927: I can not too strongly urge it upon the Congress. The legislation to accomplish It should take the form of a statute to give authority to the administrative officer to give legal domicile to aliens who entered the United States prior to July. 1. 1924. the effective date of the present quota immigration law. upon showing in appropriate hearing that they are not subject to deportation on any other grounds and that they meet the certain required standards. The United States Chamber of Commerce in the report of its chairman urges that legalization be as of July 1. 1924. The Foreign Language Information Service urges likewise July 1. 1924. as the effective date of this proposed legislation. The Council on Adult Education for the Foreign Born urges the passage of this act. In. fact. it is the desire of all those who are interested in a proper solution of this difficult question that this law be made effective as of July 1. 1924. rather than June 03. The reason for it is obvious. Our permanent quota policy was fixed on July 1. 1924. From that date on we have very accurate. comprehensive. and complete records of every alien who entered the United States. Those who came before that day can not now be deported. It is therefore obvious that if we do not legalize the entry of these aliens who have established their residence in the United States prior to July 1. 1924. we will be making of them men without a country. I do not believe that Congress seriously intends to do anything of the kind. I shall quote from the report of the immigration committee of the United States Chamber of Commerce two instances. typical of many which have come to light and of many others which may at any time. which will reveal the hardships arising