Speech #800089110

This change in citizenship apparently caused Rubinstein no delay or embarrassment in entering the United States. He was skillful at perfecting arrangements. Then. on April 2. 1938. on his Portuguese passport. and despite his questionable background. he was admitted to the United States as an immigrant for permanent residence under the Russian quota. It was not until February 7. 1941nearly 3 years laterthat the Department of State got around to inquiring of the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs as to the validity of Rubinsteins Portuguese citizenship. The Portuguese Ministry. in its reply of July 10. 1941. cited documents which. as per the current statement of the Attorney General. "were considered spurious by the American authorities." But it was not until April 3. 1943a year and threequarters laterthat a deportation warrant was served. Meanwhile. the war had begun and Rubinstein. as per custom. was cleaning up in the New York Stock Exchange. Apparently he was immune from the regulations of SEC. In May 1941. the Portuguese consul in New York City not only certified to the validity of Rubinsteins Portuguese passport used by him in entering this country in March 1936. but even went further and stated that Rubinstein possessed a valid Portuguese passport in 1935 at the very time when he was using a French passport for his entry to this country. Rubinstein stayed on. In October 1943. the Board of Immigration Appeals ruled that charges in the warrant of arrest had not been sustained. It is significant to note that it was not until April 1947. that the State Department forwarded to the Justice Department a communication from the Portuguese Minister of Foreign Affairs to the effect that Rubinsteins Portuguese passport was invalid. Seven years had elapsed since the Department of Justice had requested the Department of State to obtain this information.