Speech #780038559

Information has been communicated to me that some countries associated with us dislike the idea of having their nationals deported to some country other than their own. We have done so little. so very little. for China. for example. who has done so much for the rest of us. that I should not like to aggravate their irritations in any unnecessary way. I wish there were some way by which there might be discretion lodged in the United States authority which is responsible for these deportations. so that any legitimate complaint which any country might have could be heard by the officer exercising such discretion. As the bill reads. if a Chinese sailor. for example. should be subject to deportation and must be deported by this country. he is not sent back to China or retained in this country. but he is sent back to the country of the registry of the vessel on which he is engaged. In substance. that practically means the British Isles. the British Government. Those sailors may not want to be deported to the British Isles. for all I know. Evidently some of them do not want to be so deported. Since both China and the British Empire are allies. I do not see why we should take the nationals of an allied nation and deport them to the territory of another allied nation. if perhaps they do not want to go. and if the sovereign whose nationality they have does not want them to go there. I think it might be appropriate to provide at least that if there is involved a national of a country with which we are allied. the deportation to another allied country should not occur until the first nation might give its approval of the deportation. The British probably would not want us to take a British sailor who deserted and send him to China because he happened.to be on a Chinese vessel. and I suspect that we would hear something about it if we started to do it. I do not want Chinese sailors to be transferred back to Britain. for example. unless the Chinese Government perhaps had agreed to it.