This is a wise step. Many Japs live near our oilreserve properties. naval bases. and factories which manufacture defense materials. My bill. which is S. 2293. directs the Secretary of War to take into custody and restrain. to the extent by him deemed necessary in the Interest of national defense. any person who is considered by the laws of any foreign power with whom we are at war to be a citizen of such nation and is of a race or nationality ineligible to naturalization in the United States. The bill. therefore. Is directed at the Japanese and raises directly the question of its constitutionality under the fourteenth amendment of the Constitution and. specifically. the first clause thereof which provides: All persons born or naturalized in the United States. and subject to the jurisdiction thereof. are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. As is known by most lawyers. the Supreme Court of the United States. by a divided Court. has held that a child born in the United States of parents of Chinese descent. who at the time of his birth are Chinese subjects but have a permanent domicile and residence in the United States and are carrying on a business and not employed in any diplomatic or official capacity for the Chinese Government. becomes at the time of his birth a citizen of the United States under the first clause of the fourteenth amendment of the Constitution. The case to which I refer is styled United States against Wong Kim Ark. and is reported in volume169.
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naturalization naturalized