Speech #820229943

Maui. on April 28. 1946. as a laborer under contract to the Hawaiian Sugar Planters Association under section 8 (a) (1) of the act of March 24. 1934. He was not inspected by this Service upon his arrival. but the Hawaiian Sugar Planters Association is in possession of the manifest of the steamship Maunawili showing the subjects arrival on the date mentioned. The subject is desirous of being naturalized as a United States citizen. and in order to initiate proceedings leading to that end he has submitted a form N300. The questions presented are: 1. Whether the subject has been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence so as to be eligible for naturalization. and 2. Whether a certificate of arrival is required in the subjects case. and if so. whether a regular or a qualified certificate should be issued. The subject is one of several thousafid Filipino laborers admitted to the Territory of Hawaii under the last sentence of section 8 (a) (1) of the Philippine Independence Act of March 24. 1934. which became effective on May 1. 1934. Section 8 (a) of that act reads. in part. as follows: "1. For the purposes of the Immigration Act of 1917. the Immigration Act of 1924 (except section 13 (c) ). this section. and all other laws of the United States relating to the immigration. exclusion. or expulsion of aliens. citizens of the Philippine Islands who are not citizens of the United States shall be considered as if they were aliens. For such purposes the Philippine Islands shall be considered as a separate country and shall have for each fiscal year a quota of 50. This paragraph shall not apply to a person coming or seeking to come to the Territory of Hawaii who does not apply for and secure an immigration or passport visa. but such immigration shall be determined by the Department of the Interior on the basis of the needs of industries in the Territory of Hawaii. "2. Citizens of the Philippine Islands who are not citizens of the United States shall not be admitted to the continental United States from the Territory of Hawaii (whether entering such Territory before or after the effective date of this section) unless they belong to a class declared to be nonimmigrants by section 3 of the Immigration Act of 1924 or to a class declared to be nonquota immigrants under the provisions of section 4 of such act other than subdivision (c) thereof or unless they were admitted to such Territory under an immigration visa. The Attorney General shall by regulations provide a method for such exclusion and for the admission of such excepted classes." In the matter of Gran (A6483063) the Board of Immigration Appeals affirmed a central office order of January 16. 1947. which affirmed the excluding decision of a Board of Special Inquiry in the case of a Filipino imported into Hawaii who subsequently left Hawaii for Japan as a civilian employee of the United States Army and thereafter desired to reenter Hawaii after an absence of 24 days. On May 27. 1947. this order was rescinded by the Board of Immigration Appeals. the appeal was sustained and it was ordered that the appellant be admitted for permanent residence. This subsquent order was made on the basis of a decision in the matter of Omo (A6433310). The Omo case involved a Filipino imported into Hawaii on March 15. 1946. under section 8 (a) (1) of the act of March 24. 1934. In August 1946 he departed for Guam as a civilian employee in the United States Army engineers. and on October 14. 1946. he applied for readmission to Hawaii. Central office order of April 1. 1947. affirmed by the Board of Immigration Appeals on May 23. 1947. without comment. ordered the appeal sustained and appellant admitted to Hawaii for permanent residence. This decision was predicated on the fact that the first portion of section 8 (a) (1) of the Philippine Independence Act provides that for immigration purposes. citizens of the Philippines who are not citizens of the United States shall be considered as if they were aliens and the last sentence provides that this paragraph shall not apply to those imported to Hawaii on a determination by the Department of the Interior. The conclusion was reached that Congress must have intended that the latter class of Philippine citizens were to continue to enter as prior thereto. that is. in the status of nationals. and that the appellant acquired permanent residence in Hawaii when admitted originally in March From these decisions it follows that all citizens of the Philippine Islands who entered Hawaii under section 8 (a) (1) of the act of March 24. 1934. as did Gran and Omo. entered as nationals of the United States. and even though they were not inspected by this Service. they were lawfully admitted to Hawaii for permanent residence in the same manner as all citizens of the Philippine Islands admitted prior to the effective date of that act. The fact that citizens of the Philippine Islands who were not citizens of the United States were prohibited by section 8 (a) (2) of that act from being admitted to the continental United States from Hawaii unless they were nonimmigrants. as defined by section 3 of the Immigration Act of 1924. or nonquota immigrantr as defined by section 4 of such act other than subdivision (c) thereof. or unless they were admitted to Hawaii with immigration visas. does not change that conclusion. Section 321A of the Nationality Act of 1940 provides in effect that a citizen of the Philippine Islands who entered the United States prior to May 1. 1934. the effective date of the act of March 24. 1934. may be naturalized without filing a declaration of intention or a certificate of arrival with his petition for naturalization. The basis for this legislation was that prior to that date such persons entered the United States as nationals of the United States and no records were made of their arrivals. The fact that Congress took cognizance of the fact that there were no records of such persons arrivals and passed legislation enabling them to be naturalized without filing certificates of arrival with their petitions for naturalization is Indicative that Congress considered such persons to be lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence and eligible for naturalization. Accordingly. citizens of the Philippine Islands who entered the United States subsequent to May 1. 1934. but according to law. in the same manner as those who entered prior thereto can likewise only be considered to be lawfully admitted for permanent residence. It is true that citizens of the Philippine Islands admitted to Hawaii under section 8 (a) (1) of the act of March 24. 1934. did not have the same freedom of entering the continental United States from Hawaii that other nationals of the United States had. However. that factor cannot give rise to the conclusion that such persons were not lawfully admitted for permanent residence to the Territory of Hawaii. Nor may that conclusion be drawn from the fact that persons admitted to Hawaii under section 8 (a) (1) of the act of March 24. 1934. were not mentioned by Congress in the en*actment of section 321A of the Nationality Act. That section merely specified a certate group of Filipinos who may be naturalized without filing declarations of intention or certificates of arrival with their petitions for naturalization. No conclusive legislative intent may be inferred from that section concerning other citizens of the Philippine Islands. The subject herein was admitted to Hawaii under section 8 (a) (1) of the act of March 24. 1934. and from the reasoning in the foregoing it must be concluded that he was lawfully admitted to the Territory of Hawaii for permanent residence. Section 307 (a) of the Nationality Act of 1940 requires that a petitioner for naturalization must have resided continuously within the "United States" for 5 years. Section 101 (d) of the Nationality Act defines for the purposes of that act the geographical United States as "The Continental United States. Alaska. Hawaii. Puerto Rico. and the Virgin Islands of the United States." Since by definition Hawaii is included as part of the geographical United States. it must be concluded that the subjects lawful admission to Hawaii for permanent residence under section 8 (a) (1) of the act of March 24. 1934. was a lawful admission to the United States for permanent residence so as to qualify him for naturalization. . Section 329 (b) of the Nationality Act of 1940 reads as follows: "No declaration of intention shall be made by any person who arrived in the United States after June 29. 1906. until such persons lawful entry for permanent residence shall have been established. and a certificate showing the date. place. and manner of arrival into the United States shall have been issued. It shall be the duty of the Commissioner or a Deputy Commissioner to cause to be issued such certificate." Section 332 (c) of that act reads as follows: "At the time of filing the petition for naturalization there shall be filed with the clerk of court. a certificate from the Service. if the petitioner arrives in the United States after June 29. 1906. stating the date. place. and manner of petitioners arri..al in the United States. * * * "Title 8. Cer. 363.3. is the regulation concerned with the filing of a certificate of arrival with a petition for naturalization and states in part that unless specifically exempted by thn Nationality Act of 1940 each petitioner for naturalization who entered the United States after June 29. 1906. shall file with his petition a certificate of arrival." There is no provision in the Nationality Act of 1940 exempting citizens of the Philippine Islands who entered Hawaii under that act of March 24. 1934. from filing a certificate of arrival with their petitions for naturalization. Accordingly. the subject would be required to file a certificate of arrival with his petition for naturalization should he proceed that far in his naturalization proceedings. Under the provisions of section 329 (b). it is evident that a certificate of arrival must be issued before he can make a declaration of intention. It is to be noted that the first requirement of section 329 (b) is that the applicant shall have established a lawful entry into the United States for permanent residence.