Speech #830009847

In order to get out in time. bosuns have signed on as deck hands. electricians as mess boys. losing status and pay." It may be true that crewmen who in times past were able to obtain shore leave when their vessel arrived and then on one pretext or another were able to obtain extensions permitting them to remain in the United States for many months are irked by the requirements of the new act which limits their stay to periods not to exceed 29 days. However. as stated under item 3 above. a seaman required to be in the United States beyond 29 days for reasons beyond his control may be given a reasonable time in which to depart. "(6) Interrogations under the new law have not yet discovered one Communist among Norwegian seamen. there may be some Reds among them. but the real Communists. of course. simply deny it. Many American immigration officials detest what they must do under this law as much as do the victims. For example. there are women serving on Norwegian ships as mess stewards or radio operators. this is a familiar and respectable career in Norway. When they reach America. these women are asked if they have ever engaged in prostitution. men are asked when they last visited a brothel. if they intend to commit bigamy in this country. and so on." Under the new act. crewmen are subject to the same excluding provisions of the law as are alien immigrants. whereas under the old law a crewman could be granted shore leave who. if he were applying for admission as a visitor or for permanent residence. would be inadmissible. To this extent the McCarranWalter Act is stricter than the old law. We know of no immigration officials who detest questioning visitors. transits. and those applying for admission to the United States for permanent residence. Therefore we see no reason why any should detest questioning crewmen to determine whether or not they meet the requirements of the law and are admissible to the United States for a temporary period. It has not come to the attention of this office that any of our men are deliberately asking every woman crewman if they have ever engaged in prostitution.