Speech #760278554

Speaker. in some sections of the country before 1933. if an alien did not know how many stars there were on a quarter. he could not become a citizen. If he did not know how high the Bunker Hill Monument was. he was disqualified on his application. Before the present administration came into power. every imaginable obstacle was placed in the way of the naturalization process. Trite and irrelevant questions were asked the alien. and if he failed to appear at a given time for his hearing. he was penalized regardless of the validity of his excuse. The penalty made him wait 2 additional years before he could get another chance. If the Alien Registration Act had gone into effect just 9 years ago. the job would have been twice as extensive. In 1930 the alien population of this country was 6.234.614. in :1920. 7.430.809. In 1939. after naturalization reforms and a drop in the Immigration figure. the alien population had shrunk to 3.628.103. This administration has taken the attitude that everything possible should be done to facilitate the naturalization process. It has followed a policy that has shifted the emphasis from an aliens ability to memorize the correct answer to one in which his knowledge. understanding. and acceptance of the principles of this Government has been the major concern. Good moral character and the petitioners attitude toward his home. family. neighbors. community. and agencies of government have been the basic interests of the examiner. That this belief in the wisdom of a different approach has been justified is indicated by the everincreasing numbers of aliens who have become citizens in the past 7 years and of those who have applied for citizenship papers. From 1933 to 1939 a total of 1.003.109 citizenship certificates were issued as compared with 1.253.490 from the period 1926 to 1932. When these figures are compared with the following immigration figures (324.960 immigrants admitted 1933 to 1939. 1.621.011 immigrants admitted 1926 to 1932) the success of the new approach can properly be evaluated. When the late Daniel W. MacCormack became Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization in 1933 he found an absence of definite and accurate data available concerning the naturalization practices then in vogue. He thereupon directed a survey which disclosed the following deplorable conditions: 1. A great lack of uniformity existed in the attitudes and practices of the judges of the more than 2.000 Federal and State courts authorized to exercise naturalization jurisdiction. and a like lack of uniformity on the part of the naturalization examiners who had a few standards fixed for their guidance. 2. Naturalization examiners in some districts were recommending that petitions for naturalization be denied for highly technical and sometimes trivial reasons. The opposite procedure prevailed in others. 3. Thousands of petitions for citizenship were being dismissed solely because the applicants had failed to appear for final hearing without regard to the merits of the petitions or the circumstances of the failure. 4. Character investigations of applicants for naturalization were inadequate. 5. Information had not been made available during the previous 27 years of the administration of the naturalization laws to show the actual questions being propounded to applicants for naturalization by the naturalization examiners in determining their educational qualifications. although the Constitution requires a "uniform" rule of naturalization. Lack of uniformity was the rule In these educational tests. 6. A large proportion of the questions which were being asked concerning the applicants educational fitness were factual rather than the reasoning ones. 7. Mere memory tests were being prescribed generally in lieu of examinations designed to test attitudes and understanding about government. 8. Advantage was not being taken of the benefits to both the Government and the alien growing out of effective cooperation by recognized welfare and socialservice agencies. with a view to eliminating the exploitation of aliens. 9. No plan had been devised for instructing systematically and continually the entire personnel of the Service as to the immigration and naturalization laws and regulations. and as to the duties of the members of the Service in their administration. On the basis of such disclosures. measures were taken to reform the complete service. After careful study. naturalization examiners were directed to make no formal recommendations in cases involving technicalities only. the examiners duty being regarded as fulfilled when he had brought all the facts of the case to the court. This action has resulted in the elimination of much socalled red tape in saving of time and work and an assurance to applicants for citizenship of a fair consideration of their cases. It had been the practice to dismiss thousands of petitions for naturalization annually. solely because of failure of the petitioner to appear in court for final hearing. This failure to appear was frequently due to causes beyond the applicants control. such as illness. temporary absence from the jurisdiction of the court while seeking employment. or failure to receive advance notice of the hearing. Much embarrassment. expense. and delay were frequently caused innocent applicants whose declarations had expired and who were required to make new declarations of intentions and wait 2 years before repetitioning.