I heard the commissioner point to the fact that one of the great difficulties in dealing with the alien deportee is the identification of any individual who is sought by the authorities. It might be such as the case I have mentioned, or any case of violation of the immigration law or any other law. The alien may refuse to answer any questions as to his identify. There are cases where foreign countries have refused to accept aliens who have been deported from this country, on the ground, as they claim, that there was a lack of identification of such alien as one of their subjects. For all those reasons, and also because foreign countries have found it necessary and desirable to adopt such a position, we think the Government of the United States should adopt the policy of registration of aliens. We think the bill the Senator has provided is the best that has yet been offered to accomplish that purpose. Senator SCHWELLENBACH. Do you happen to have information as to the number of countries that have adopted such a policy? Mr. TREVOR. Yes. I do not have it with me; I can supply it. Senator SCHWELLENBACH. It may be incorporated in the record at this point. (The matter referred to is here set forth in full as follows:) Hon. L. B. SCHWELLENBACH, Senate Office Building, Washington, D. C. AMERICAN COALITION, DEAR SENATOR: I enclose the data regarding the registration of aliens of various countries which I promised to add as a supplement to my testimony before your committee. I regret extremely the delay in forwarding this matter to you, and I trust it is not too late. me, Thanking you for the opportunity given me to supplement my remarks, believe Respectfully yours, JOHN B. TREVOR. The summaries which follow are based on information derived from a book entitled "Migration Laws and Treaties", volume II, published by the International Labor Office, Geneva, 1928. Without doubt, in many instances the information set forth below is completely out of date. It serves, however, to indicate the trend of policy, and it is my belief, that a complete up-to-date review of the registration legislation and regulations of all countries of the world will show that the disposition today is to be more stringent than ever before. In certain instances I know this to be the case; but in the absence of official information, I am confining myself to the record compiled by the International Labor Office: British mandated territory: Palestine.-All persons must file particulars within 15 days after arrival with the chief immigration officer. French mandated territories: Togo and Cameroons.-All persons as soon as admitted must make a declaration of residence. Japanese mandated territory: South Sea Islands. All persons intending to reside for more than 3 months must within 10 days after disembarkation make declaration of their nationality, origin, etc., to the local government authorities. New Zealand mandated territory. By the Samoan Registration of Europeans Regulations, 1920, the registrar of the high court was bound to prepare a register of all Europeans registered as foreigners at the time the regulations came into force. Argentina. Consular certificates, with complete personal information of the immigrant collected at time of entry, is recorded. Austria.-An employer who has been granted permission to employ an alien must, within 3 days, make a declaration of the alien's entry into his employment to the authorities. Belgium.-All aliens must make a declaration of residence, within 15 days after arrival, with municipal authorities. Bolivia. All aliens must, with 30 days after arrival, obtain a residence permit showing his nationality, age, etc., from the police. Bulgaria. All aliens must make a declaration of arrival with the police. Chile. All aliens over 14 years of age must be registered and obtain an individual identity certificate. Colombia.-All aliens must be registered. Czechoslovakia.-All aliens entering for short stay must make a declaration of such fact to the police within 24 hours of their arrival. Persons entering with intention of working must first obtain the sanction of the Central Labor Office. Denmark. Aliens wishing to stay for more than 3 months must obtain special sanction from the Ministry of Justice. Employers must make a written declaration to the chief of local police of all alien workers within 4 days after arrival. Ecuador. All aliens must be registered. Estonia. Aliens wishing to stay in the country for more than 48 hours must apply for a residence permit within 5 days after arrival and for a visa when leaving. Finland.-All aliens intending to remain more than 3 months must procure a residence permit from the police. France. All aliens must make a declaration of residence within 8 days of their arrival, before the mayor or the commissioner of police; and those intending to stay for longer than 2 months in the country must obtain an identity card. Algeria. Same condition applies as in France. Morocco. Aliens must, within a period of 6 days of their disembarkation, comply with the formalities of registration at their respective consulates. Tunis. All aliens must make a declaration of residence and supply proof of identity within a period of 5 days after arrival. Colonies: All aliens must be registered. Practically the same formalities are required as those customary in France. Germany.-In Prussia it is compulsory for alien workers coming to the country to seek employment to obtain an identity card from the Central Office for WorkThe majority of States in Germany have adopted this method. ers. Great Britain. All aliens as soon as possible must furnish particulars concerning themselves to the registration officer of the district in which they reside. Colonies: All foreign laborers must be registered. Greece. All aliens over 18 years of age intending to more than 30 days must apply for a residence permit. age intending to settle permanently must apply for an month before the expiry of their residence permit. Guatemala.-All immigrants arriving in the country must report within 8 days to the chief of police. reside in the country for Aliens over 18 years of identity card, at least 1 Haiti. All aliens must be registered with the police within 3 days of their arrival. Hungary. All aliens must obtain residence permits within 15 days of their arrival, if they intend to remain permanently in the country. Tourists may remain for 2 months without special permission, but hotel and lodginghouse keepers must report within 24 hours to the police authorities the arrival of any alien in their establishment. India. All aliens arriving at a British port must be registered. In some cases, a permit to travel is necessary. Irish Free State. All aliens over 18 years of age remaining in the country over 2 months must furnish full particulars to the registration officer of the district in which they reside. Italy. All aliens must report within 3 days after their arrival to the police authorities of the place where they are living and make a declaration of residence. Mexico.-Personal identity cards must be obtained from Mexican counsel in the place of departure. These cards must be visaed when the alien enters Mexico and will serve as a residence permit. Netherlands. Aliens on entering country must prove their identity to the chief of police, and if wishing to reside temporarily in the country must receive a residence certificate. Colonies.-Aliens other than orientals must on arrival surrender their disembarkation permit necessary to enter country and receive an admission certificate. Newfoundland.-Register kept of all persons to whom certificates of entry have been granted. New Zealand. All persons of 15 years of age or over who are not British subjects must be registered. Norway. All aliens entering to take up employment or to reside permanently must, within 6 days after arrival, report to the police. Any alien entering country without intention to stay but who is in the country after 2 months must then report to the police. Peru. All aliens must be registered with the local police officer within 3 months after arrival in the capital, or within 6 months in the rest of the country. He is then granted a residence permit. Poland. All aliens over 16 years of age must be registered within 8 days of their arrival. A registration certificate is then issued to the alien. Portugal. All aliens must within 48 hours of their arrival present themselves to the administrative authorities and obtain a residence permit. Colonies. All aliens entering territories must within 3 days appear before the administrative authorities and make a declaration of residence. Rumania.-All aliens must appear within 8 days of their arrival before the administrative authorities and obtain a resident permit, which is issued on presentation of the alien's passport. Spain. All aliens over the age of 14 years must make a declaration of arrival to the police within 48 hours after their arrival. Sweden. Immediately upon arrival in the country all aliens must report to the police in the first place where he stops, in order to show his identity documents and give all information which may be demanded of him. Switzerland. All aliens wishing to reside in the country for more than 8 days must make a declaration of arrival to the police. Turkey.—All aliens must apply for permission to settle. Venezuela.-All aliens must report to the administrative authorities within 2 weeks of their arrival to establish their identity. While the registration of aliens takes numerous forms in the various countries set forth above, the effect is always similar. The declaration of arrival is generally noted on a certificate referred to as an admission, residence, or settlement permit, for which frequently a fee is charged. A residence permit is usually valid for only a short time, 1 or 2 years being the longest periods of time allowed. In this manner a regular census and supervision of the alien population within the territory is insured, and the authorities are left free to grant or refuse the renewal of resident permits, thus making it possible to eliminate undesirable aliens from the population, either for moral or economic reasons. Mr. TREVOR. As a matter of fact, the League of Nations some years ago compiled a very detailed report of the immigration laws and the laws governing the deportation of aliens in foreign countries. That compilation is extremely interesting. It is not quite up to date. I may say that some years ago a former chairman of the House Committee on Immigration, Congressman Albert Johnson, whom you may recall as a well-known author of some of our restrictive legislation in respect to immigrants, requested the Secretary of State to request reports from consuls on some on these matters. I was given the opportunity to examine that compilation. I think it would be very desirable if you would request the Department of State to bring that information down to date. Senator SCHWELLENBACH. Do you remember the date to which it was compiled? Mr. TREVOR. I would not say offhand, but it was during the time that Congressman Johnson was in Congress, and that was some years ago. Senator SCHWELLENBACH. He was here until March 1933. He is from my State. Mr. TREVOR. It is something like that. That compilation was extraordinarily interesting. It shows that in one foreign country an American manager of a business, as I recall, was ordered deported, because it was contended by the Government that a native of that country could equally well fill his position. That is a perfectly reasonable attitude for a country to take, in our opinion. We think the citizens of this country are entitled to the first opportunity for employment, provided no other person equally qualified is available. I think if you, Senator, on behalf of the committee, would request an up-todate compilation of that material be supplied to this committee and incorporated in the record, it would be of very great value. I think it would prove conclusively that up to that time foreign countries were taking drastic steps to protect their labor by registration and restriction of entry and other devices, in order to protect their people in a way which our country has flagrantly neglected. Senator REYNOLDS. May I suggest to the chairman, while I am not a member of the committee and cannot make a motion, that this committee request of the State Department that it provide you with a digest of the laws of the several countries in the world that have mandatory legislation to restrict immigration and likewise those that have mandatory registration and fingerprinting, with the further request that the report as to each of the countries be confined to not more than 100 words. It can be done within 100 words. If they take two or three pages on each of these reports, nobody is going to read it; but if it is suggested that it be confined to 100 words for each country, that can be done, and the members of the committee and other interested parties will read it. Senator SCHWELLENBACH. So far as I am concerned, it seems to me to be a very good idea. I think I should take it up with the other members of the subcommittee. Senator REYNOLDS. Of course. I simply make that suggestion. I would like to make the further suggestion that if such information is furnished, it be embodied in this record following Captain Trevor's statement on S. 1364. Senator SCHWELLENBACH. It might be that the time required to get these reports might be such that it would delay getting out the hearings to the extent that you would not want. Mr. TREVOR. Might I suggest that the material now in the hands of the department from the previous survey indicates the extent to which those countries have gone. Take, for example, England, which is perhaps the most democratic country in the world. It has the most drastic provisions. An American cannot go to England to take a job without a very close scrutiny by the agents of that country in New York, while an English citizen can take any position in America he might want to fill. They have a very close system of registration over there. You cannot get away with the sort of thing that is done here. I want the committee to understand that in recommending this policy we have no animosity toward people because they are foreigners. Our organization does rot feel that way. We have no desire to discriminate against any race or nationality. I am, probably, largely responsible for the present quota system proposed by former Senator Reed, in 1924, to abolish race discrimination and national discrimination in the quotas. We are now endorsing Senator Reynolds' bill in a desire to protect American labor, and also that aliens who are criminals should be identified as promptly as possible and eliminated from the community. These are our sole purposes in advocating this legislation. Senator REYNOLDS. May I state, Mr. Chairman, that on my own initiative I propose to go to the State Department and ask them to furnish me with information regarding each country that has registration and fingerprinting, to be confined within 100 words for each country. After I secure it I will submit it to you with the request that you submit it to the entire committee with a view of incorporating it in the record immediately after the testimony of Captain Trevor in respect to this particular bill, S. 1364. Senator SCHWELLENBACH. It seems to me, if you can furnish that information, it would not be necessary to take it up with the committee. Senator REYNOLDS. And I will request that it be embodied in the record. Senator SCHWELLENBACH. Yes. (The matter referred to is filed with the clerk to the committee.) Senator REYNOLDS. May I ask some questions? Senator SCHWELLENBACH. Yes. Senator REYNOLDS. You were an officer during the World War? Senator REYNOLDS. Attached to the Secret Service Division? Senator REYNOLDS. May I further inquire whether there were soldiers who participated in the World War who were required to be fingerprinted? Mr. TREVOR. Ch, absolutely. I may say that as a result of that some crimes were disclosed and the perpetrators were disclosed. I wish to point out particularly that the identity of some victims was established by the fact they were fingerprinted on entering the service of the United States. I remember one case in Westchester County where nobody could tell who the victim was. They found within 24 hours the man had served in either the Army or the Navy and his identity was established. Fingerprinting is a great protection to individuals. I have been voluntarily fingerprinted, because I think it is a great protection to everybody. Senator REYNOLDS. State whether or not men enlisting in the United States Army are required to be fingerprinted. Mr. TREVOR. It is my understanding that every one enlisting in the armed service of the United States is required to be fingerprinted. Senator REYNOLDS. State whether or not, if you know, in the city of New York approximately how many citizens have voluntarily submitted to fingerprinting and for what purpose. Mr. TREVOR. I could not give that information at this time, but it can be readily obtained from the Bureau of Identification of the United States. My own fingerprints are on file there. I saw about 200 people voluntarily submit to fingerprinting at one time, because they felt it was protection. The Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York invited Mr. J. Edgar Hoover to make a speech before it a couple of years ago on that subject, and he brought with him men from the Bureau of Identification. Many members of the Chamber voluntarily submitted themselves to fingerprinting. During the war photography proved to be an absolute washout as a positive means of identification. They would take a man's photograph for a passport and substitute another which in the absence of fingerprints could not be detected as a fraud. No other system of identification except fingerprints is worth 2 cents. Senator REYNOLDS. Do you or anyone else know the number of aliens in the United States today? Mr. TREVOR. I do not think anybody knows the number of lawful immigrants in the United States, and I am positive that nobody has the slightest conception of the number of illegal immigrants that are in this country at the present time. |