date of the alien's admission for permanent residence shall be as of the date of the order of the Secretary of Labor permitting him to remain. Passed the House of Representatives June 10, 1937. Attest:

SOUTH TRIMBLE,

Clerk.

Senator SCHWELLENBACH. I will also place in the record a copy of a report on the bill from the Department of State. (The document referred to is here set forth in full, as follows:)

Hon. RICHARD B. RUSSELL,

Chairman, Senate Committee on Immigration.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
Washington, July 6, 1937.

MY DEAR SENATOR RUSSELL: I have your letter of June 18, 1937, requesting the views of the Department of State in regard to H. R. 6391, a bill having as its expressed purpose to authorize the prompt deportation of criminals and certain other aliens, and for other purposes.

The bill in question is essentially a deportation measure. Deportation matters fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Department of Labor, in contrast to strictly immigration questions, which are of direct concern both to that Department and to the Department of State. It is understood that the Department of Labor has given its unqualified endorsement to H. R. 6391 in its present form. I may therefore express the views of this Department by saying that it accepts the favorable views of the Department of Labor in relation to H. R. 6391.

I may add that section 8 of the bill in question, which refers to certain administrative adjustments to be made by the Secretary of State in relation to immigration quotas, appears to be administratively feasible.

Sincerely yours,

CORDELL HULL.

Senator SCHWELLENBACH. Senator Copeland has introduced a number of amendments to the bill, which I will place in the record at this point.

(The amendments referred to are here set forth in full, as follows:)

[H. R. 6391, 75th Cong., 1st sess.]

AMENDMENTS intended to be proposed by Mr. Copeland to the bill (H. R. 6391) to authorize the prompt deportation of criminals and certain other aliens, and for other purposes, viz:

On page 2, line 1, after the word "turpitude" insert "that is not a petty nature,".

On page 3, line 12, after the word "alien" insert "who entered the United States prior to January 1, 1937, and is".

On page 3, line 22, strike out the period and insert "; or".
On page 3, after line 22, insert:

"(3) Is a veteran of the World War eligible to citizenship under the Act entitled 'An Act to authorize the naturalization of certain resident alien World War veterans', approved June 24, 1935. The authority of the Secretary of Labor under this subsection shall not extend beyond three years after the date of the enactment of this Act."

On page 4, after line 20, insert:

"(d) In computing continuity of residence in the United States for the purposes of the immigration laws, the continuity of such residence in the case of an alien who has been admitted to the United States for permanent residence shall not be deemed to be broken if such alien has left the United States and has entered either Canada, Cuba, or Mexico for business or pleasure and for a temporary period only and has thereafter re-entered the United States. Hereafter in any such case a permit to re-enter the United States shall not be required.'

At the end of the bill insert the following new sections:

"SEC. 10. Section 1 of the Act entitled 'An Act to authorize the naturalization of certain resident alien World War veterans', approved June 24, 1935 (49 Stat. 397), is amended as follows:

"(a) By striking out the words 'any alien veterans of the World War' contained in the first paragraph and substituting therefor the words 'any veteran of the World War not a citizen of the United States'.

“(b) By striking out 'January 1, 1937', contained in paragraph (h) and substituting therefore 'May 25, 1939'."

“SEC. 11. (a) That subdivision (a) of section 1 of the Act entitled 'An Act to further amend the naturalization laws, and for other purposes', approved May 25, 1932 (47 Stat. 165; U. S. C., Supp. VII, title 8, sec. 392b (a)), shall, as herein amended, continue in force and effect to include petitions for citizenship filed prior to May 25, 1939, with any court having naturalization jurisdiction: Provided, That for the purposes of this section, clause (1) of subdivision (a) of section 1 of the aforesaid Act of May 25, 1932, is amended by striking out the words 'all such period' and in lieu thereof inserting the words 'the five years immediately preceding the filing of his petition'.

"(b) The provisions of subsection (a) of this section are hereby extended to include any alien lawfully admitted into the United States for permanent residence who departed therefrom between August 1914 and April 5, 1917, or who departed therefrom subsequent to April 5, 1917, for the purpose of serving and actually served prior to November 11, 1918, in the military or naval forces of any of the countries allied or associated with the United States in the World War and was discharged from such service under honorable circumstances: Provided, That before any applicant for citizenship under this section is admitted to citizenship, the court shall be satisfied by competent proof that he is entitled to, and has complied in all respects with, the provisions of this section; and that he was and had been a bona-fide lawfully admitted resident in the Ünited States for two years before the passage of this Act.

"SEC. 12 (a) Notwithstanding the exceptions in subdivision (a) of section 1 of the Act approved May 26, 1926 (44 Stat. 654; U. S. C., title 8, sec. 241), for naturalization purposes only the term 'alien veteran' shall hereafter be extended to include the following:

"Any person who as an enemy alien or as a national of Turkey or Bulgaria actually rendered active service in the armed forces of the United States after April 5, 1917, and before November 12, 1918, following final examination and acceptance by the military or naval authorities, whose service indicates loyalty to the United States in the prosecution of the war, and who was separated from the service actually by reason of demobilization of the military or naval forces, notwithstanding the records may show him as discharged on account of alienage, and whose service otherwise was such as would have entitled him to have been separated under honorable conditions, and who, prior to May 25, 1939, applies as an alien veteran for the benefits of section 1 of the Act approved June 24, 1935 (49 Stat. 395; Supp. to 1934 edition U. S. C., title 8, sec. 392b).

"(b) Upon request by any person entitled to the benefits of subsection (a) of this section, the War Department or the Navy Department, as case may be, shall grant to such person a discharge certificate showing that the soldier is held and considered to have been honorably discharged under the provisions of this Act. "(c) The benefits of subsection (a) of this section may be hereafter applied for, and extended to, any person qualified for such benefits, notwithstanding any previous denials of the benefits of naturalization due to inhibitions and limitations against such aliens in statutes heretofore enacted relating to naturalization of alien veterans of the World War.

"(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to extend any special privilege under the immigration laws to any person who may hereafter seek admission to the United States from any foreign territory for the purpose of applying for the benefits of naturalization under this section.

"SEC. 13. The Act entitled 'An Act relating to the record of registry of certain aliens', approved June 8, 1934, is amended to read as follows:

"That subdivision (a) of section 1 of the Act entitled 'An Act to supplement the naturalization laws, and for other purposes', approved March 2, 1929, is amended by adding to the end thereof the following:

"Upon application filed with the Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization at any time prior to July 1, 1938, such registry may also be made as to any alien not ineligible to citizenship who entered the United States prior to January 1, 1937, in whose case there is no record of admission for permanent residence and who is in the United States as a bona-fide political or religious refugee; if such alien shall make a satisfactory showing to the Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization, in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization, with the approval of the Secretary of Labor, that he

"(1) Has not been out of the United States since entry; "(2) Is a person of good moral character;

"(3) Is not subject to deportation under any law other than the Immigration Act of 1924; and

"(4) Did not, before January 1, 1937, withhold from the immigration authorities of the United States necessary information concerning his personal history sought in connection with their application to the authorities of any foreign country for permission to deport him thereto.""

Hon. Richard B. RUSSELL, Jr.,

United States Senate.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
Washington, July 12, 1937.

MY DEAR SENATOR RUSSELL: I have your letter of June 18, 1937, requesting the views of the Department of State regarding its enclosure, certain amendments to H. R. 6391, introduced by Senator Copeland.

In reply, I may say that, with one exception, the amendment in question appears to deal exclusively with deportation and naturalization questions, both of which fall within the jurisdiction of the Department of Labor, which will doubtless be in a position to advise you fully in the matter.

The exception noted above is subsection (d) appearing on page 2, lines 5 to 14, inclusive, of the committee print of the amendments to H. R. 6391, which you enclosed in your letter. With regard to subsection (d), the following comment is offered for your consideration.

Subsection (d) refers to the breaking of the continuity of the residence of permanently admitted aliens leaving the United States for temporary periods for Canada, Cuba, or Mexico. It is understood that under existing law the continuity of an alien's residence, for naturalization purposes, is not considered as broken if the alien departs from the United States for any foreign country and returns to the United States after a temporary stay abroad not exceeding 6 months. Furthermore, such an alien visiting Canada, Mexico, Cuba, or certain other nearby territory, who does not visit other additional countries, is already exempted, under the authority of Executive Order No. 6986, of March 9, 1935, from the necessity of obtaining a reentry permit for readmission into the United States. There would consequently appear to be no necessity for the passage of subsection (d) of the amendment in question.

Sincerely yours,

CORDELL HULL.

Senator SCHWELLENBACH. I will also place in the record a copy of a report from the Department of Labor, with a supplemental report. (The reports referred to are here set forth in full, as follows:) DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, Washington, June 24, 1937.

Hon. RICHARD B. RUSSELL, Jr.,

United States Senate, Washington, D. C.

MY DEAR SENATOR RUSSELL: I have the honor to refer to your letter of June 18, 1937, requesting an expression of the views of this Department on the amendments Senator Copeland intends to propose to bill H. R. 6391.

That bill was passed by the House on June 10, 1937. The first proposed amendment is the insertion of the words "that is not of a petty nature" after the word "turpitude" in subsection (1) of section 1, line 1, page 2 of the bill. As so amended, that subsection would read as follows:

"(1) Is hereafter convicted in the United States within five years of the institution of deportation proceedings against him of a crime involving moral turpitude that is not of a petty nature for which the alien is committed to an institution as result of such conviction; or * * *""

The proposed amendment is evidently intended to prevent the deportation of an alien upon conviction of a crime committed within 5 years of the institution of proceedings to deport him, which crime, although it may as a matter of law involve moral turpitude, is nevertheless of a petty nature. Many cases have arisen under the existing law in which it was necessary for the Department to deport aliens who were convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for a year or more for committing petty offenses which were held to involve moral turpitude. This subsection applies that doctrine to all convicted aliens regardless of the period of imprisonment. The result will be deportation will be necessary in many instances in which that punishment is not commensurate with the offense. There

is, therefore, no objection to a restriction in the subsection such as is proposed by Senator Copeland.

The next proposed amendment is directed to line 10, page 3 of the bill. In the bill passed by the House, it appears the reference should be to line 12 of that page. The amendment inserts after the word "alien" in the last-mentioned line a provision which would restrict the authority to permit to remain in the United States to only such alien of the specified classes "who entered the United States prior to January 1, 1937, and is" subject to deportation. The Department is of the opinion that such an amendment is unnecessary and may be harmful to the beneficent purposes which the bill as passed was intended to effect and accomplish. The authority granted therein permitting deportable aliens of the specified classes to remain in the United States is limited to a period of 4 years (p. 4, lines 2-5, both inclusive). That limitation was evidently considered to be the period of time necessary to accomplish the purposes and objects of the bill, and to enable Congress to see the results of the administration of the law during such period. In the opinion of the Department no change should be made in the bill in that respect. The third proposed amendment is directed to page 3, line 19. This should be line 22 in the bill as passed. It is proposed to redraft that line so as to make provision for the insertion of the following subsection (the fourth proposed amendment) after such line:

"(3) Is a veteran of the World War eligible to citizenship under the Act entitled 'An Act to authorize the naturalization of certain resident alien World War veterans', approved June 24, 1935. The authority of the Secretary of Labor under this subsection shall not extend beyond three years after the date of the enactment of this Act."

That subsection adds the aliens described therein as an additional class who, although subject to deportation, may be permitted to remain in the United States. The Department has no objection to the amendment. Congress has heretofore dealt leniently with alien veterans of the World War, and no reason is known why the limited number who will be affected by the amendment should not be included among the beneficiaries of the legislation. For ready reference it is thought that the citation to the act referred to in the amendment (49 Stat. 397) should be inserted immediately after the year 1935.

The fifth proposed amendment adds a new subsection after line 17, page 4. That appears to be line 20 of the bill passed by the House. The subsection reads as follows:

"(d) In computing continuity of residence in the United States for the purposes of the immigration laws, the continuity of such residence in the case of an alien who has been admitted to the United States for permanent residence shall not be deemed to be broken if such alien has left the United States and has entered Canada, Cuba, or Mexico for business or pleasure and for a temporary period only and has thereafter reentered the United States. Hereafter in any such case a permit to re-enter the United States shall not be required."

The purpose this amendment is designed to serve is not clear. What it seems to provide for appears to be substantially supplied by the existing law and the regulations made under the authority thereof. Section 13 (b) of the Immigration Act of 1924 (43 Stat. 161; U. S. C., title 8, sec. 213 (b)), authorizes the admission to the United States, without immigration visas, of immigrants who have been legally admitted to this country and who depart therefrom temporarily for Canada, Cuba, or Mexico. Upon their return from any of those countries, after a temporary visit of not more than 6 months, they are admitted without documents of any kind. If the absence is in excess of 6 months, it is the practice to admit such immigrants under the authority of the statute itself in meritorious cases, notwithstanding the applicants lack immigration documents. If the amendment be retained, consideration is suggested of the matter of striking out the word "either" before the word "Canada" and inserting after the word "entered" the words "no other country except" in line 10, page 2, of the proposed amendments. That would exclude immigrants who may go to other foreign countries and return to the United States through Canada or Mexico, who are obviously not intended to be within the scope of the amendment.

The sixth proposed amendment adds to the bill new sections 10, 11, 12, and 13. In view of the subject matter of each proposed new section it may be advisable to have them incorporated in a bill separate and apart from H. R. 6391. Section 10 extends the act of June 24, 1935 (49 Stat. 397), which authorized the naturalization of certain resident alien World War veterans, who before the enactment thereof were racially ineligible for naturalization. The time for filing petitions for naturalization is extended from December 31, 1936, to May 24, 1939. It also substitutes for the words "any alien veterans of the World War" the words

"any veteran of the World War not a citizen of the United States." There is no objection to the substance of either amendment. Bill H. R. 6443, introduced in the present session, covers the same subject. The only change it makes, however, is the extension of the time for filing petitions to January 1, 1940. That bill appears to be now pending before the House Committee on Immigration and Naturalization.

Section 11 is a reenactment of sections 1 and 2 of the act of June 24, 1935 (49 Stat. 395), which authorized the naturalization of certain alien World War veterans who are racially eligible for naturalization. The time for such persons to file petitions for citizenship is extended from May 24, 1937, to May 24, 1939. Bill H. R. 9291, introduced in the present session, covers the same subject matter. However, in the latter the extension of time is to May 24, 1938. That bill was reported favorably by the House Committee on Immigration and Naturalization on March 24, 1937, and is now on the House calendar. There is no objection to the substance of the proposed amendments.

Section 12 amends the act of May 26, 1926 (44 Stat. 654; U. S. C., title 8, sec. 241), which authorized the naturalization of certain alien World War veterans who are racially eligible for citizenship. (That act was heretofore extended by the act of June 24, 1935, which section 10, supra, proposes to further extend.) The proposed amendment would facilitate the naturalization under the act of aliens who served in the armed forces of the United States during the World War, but who were nationals of countries who were engaged in war against the United States and its allies, or of Turkey or Bulgaria. Such aliens have in many instances experienced difficulty in obtaining the benefits of legislation applicable to other alien veterans because of the character of the discharge—that is, usually, a discharge as an alien enemy-which they received from the armed forces of the United States. There is no objection to the substance of the amendment. Bill H. R. 84, introduced in the present session, proposes exactly the same amendment to the law. That bill appears to be pending before the House Committee on Immigration and Naturalization.

Section 13 is a reenactment, with certain amendments, of the act of June 8, 1934 (48 Stat. 926). That act, which was in force and effect for only 1 year, authorized the registration of certain alien bona fide political or religious refugees, not ineligible for citizenship, who fulfilled the requirements and qualifications prescribed by the act. The effect of such registration was to permit the registered aliens to remain in the United States. The proposed amendment fixes June 30, 1938, as the ultimate date for making application for registration, and includes aliens otherwise eligible who entered the United States prior to January 1, 1937, whereas the original act required the entry to be prior to July 1, 1933. Another difference is, one of the eligible qualifications in the 1934 act was that the alien could not be deported to any country to which it was lawful to deport him. That is not in the proposed amendment. That difference is not deemed material. As the Congress has been liberal with alien refugees of this kind and as it is anticipated that there will be but a few persons entitled to the benefits of the proposed legislation, the Department has no objection to the substance of the proposed legislation.

Faithfully yours,

FRANCES PERKINS.

STATEMENT OF EDWARD J. SHAUGHNESSY, ACTING COMMISSIONER OF IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION

Senator SCHWELLENBACH. Now, Mr. Shaughnessy, you may proceed, first giving your name and title.

Mr. SHAUGNESSY. My name is Edward J. Shaughnessy. I am Acting Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization.

The chairman has suggested that I discuss the bill, and then discuss the amendments in connection with the bill.

The bill, as we all know, had a happy trip through the House of Representatives. I do not believe there was a roll call on the bill, but a motion to recommit was defeated by a vote of 176 to 33, which gives us some encouragement as it comes before you gentlemen.

The bill, while it has nine sections in it, really has two major purposes.