to immigrants born in such area: Provided, however, That reciprocal arrangements may be entered into by the Department of State with the Dominion of Canada, Newfoundland, the Republic of Cuba, the Republic of Mexico, the Republic of Haiti, the Dominican Republic, the Canal Zone, or any independent country of Central or South America, whereby as many immigrants born in any said country otherwise admissible under the immigration laws may be admitted into the United States for permanent residence in any fiscal year as the number of persons born in the United States who were admitted into any said country for permanent residence during the preceding fiscal year. (b) Section 6 of the Immigration Act of 1924, as amended, is further amended to read as follows: "In the issuance of immigration visas to quota immigrants preference shall be given: (1) To quota immigrants who are the fathers or the mothers or the husbands or wives by marriage occurring after January 1, 1933, of citizens of the United States who are twenty-one years of age or over; and (2) to quota immigrants who are unmarried children under twenty-one years of age, or the wives or husbands, or the mother or the father, of alien residents of the United States who were lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence. "(b) The preferences provided in paragraphs 1 and 2 of subdivision (a) shall, in the case of quota immigrants of any nationality, be given in the calendar month in which the right of preference is established if the number of immigration visas which may be issued in any such month to quota immigrants of such nationality has not already been issued; otherwise in the next calendar month." SEC. 2. From and after July 1, 1939, no immigration visa shall be issued to any married applicant for entry into the United States unless, at the time of application, he or she applies for visas for all dependents admissible as nonquota immigrants, or entitled to preferences within the quotas under immigration Acts in force at the time of the passage of this Act: Provided, however, That he or she submits satisfactory evidence that transportation will be provided for the spouse and minor dependents to accompany the applicant, and that nothing in this section shall exclude a child born in transit after issuance of a visa to a parent. SEC. 3 (a) From and after July 1, 1939, no immigration visa shall be issued to any applicant who shall fail to pass an intelligence test equivalent to a normal rating of American white stock, or whose reputation or personal characteristics in the judgment of the consul would render the applicant not readily assimilable among the preponderant element of the population of the United States. (b) If any member of a family fails to meet the requirements of subsection (a) of this section, that fact shall exclude the whole family from admission to the United States. SEC. 4. The Secretary of State may deny a visa to any alien whose presence in the United States, as a visitor or for permanent residence, he deems inimical to the public interest. SEC. 5. The ninth proviso of section 3 of the Immigration Act of February 5, 1917, be amended to read as follows: "Provided further, That the Commissioner of Immigration with the approval of the Secretary of Labor shall issue rules and prescribe conditions, including exaction of such bonds as may be necessary, to control and regulate the admission and return of otherwise inadmissible aliens applying for temporary admission solely for the purpose of receiving medical treatment not obtainable at an immigration station pending deportation." SEC. 6. If any alien has been arrested and deported in pursuance of law, he shall be excluded from admission to the United States whether such deportation took place before or after the enactment of this Act; and if he enters or attempts to enter the United States after the enactment of this Act, he shall be guilty of a felony: Provided, That this Act shall not apply to any alien who has, prior to its enactment, obtained the lawful permission of the Secretary of Labor to reenter the United States and has reentered, or who arrives in the United States with such permission within sixty days after this Act becomes effective. the purposes of this section, any alien ordered deported (whether before or after the enactment of this Act), who has left the United States, shall be considered to have been deported in pursuance of law, irrespective of the source from which the expenses of his transportation were defrayed or of the place to which deported. Section 7 of the Act entitled "An Act to further amend the naturalization laws and for other purposes," approved May 25, 1932, is hereby repealed. For SEC. 8. The Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization with the approval of the Secretary of Labor shall prescribe rules and regulations for the enforcement of this Act. SEC. 9. Ahy person who knowingly aids or assists any alien or any person to evade or violate any provision of this Act or connives or conspires with an alien or any person to evade or violate this Act shall be deemed guilty of a felony and on conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000 or by imprisonment for not more than five years, or both. SEC. 10. The provisions of this Act are in addition to and not in substitution for the provisions of the immigration laws and shall be enforced as part of those laws, and all the penal or other provisions of such laws not inapplicable shall apply to and be enforced in connection with the provisions of this Act. [S. 408. 76th Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL To provide for the national defense by the registration of aliens in the United States, and for other purposes Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there is hereby established an interdepartmental committee, to be known as the Alien Registration Board and hereinafter referred to as the Board, which shall be composed of one representative designated by the Secretary of War, one representative designated by the Secretary of State, one representative designated by the Attorney General, one representative designated by the Secretary of Labor, and one representative designated by the Postmaster General. The representative designated by the Secretary of War shall be ex officio chairman of the Board. SEC. 2. The heads of the departments hereinbefore mentioned may temporarily assign other members of their departmental staffs to render expert advice or assistance to the Board: Provided, however, That no person designated as a member of the Board, or as an expert attached thereto, shall receive additional compensation to that which he already receives. SEC. 3. No immigration visa shall hereafter be issued to any alien seeking to enter the United States unless said alien has been fingerprinted in triplicate; one copy of the fingerprint record to be utilized by the consul in ascertaining whether or not the person making application for entry is the person whose name is set forth in the application and whether or not the applicant has a criminal record or other statutory disqualification which would exclude him from entering the United States; the second copy of the fingerprint record to be attached to the alien's immigration visa to provide for verification of the immigrant's identity upon arrival at a port of entry of the United States; and the third copy of the fingerprint record, together with such other information as may be required by the Board, to be sent directly to the Division of Identification of the Department of Justice for filing in the alien section of its noncriminal records. SEC. 4. It shall be the duty of the Board to prescribe rules, regulations, forms, and procedure for the taking of a Nation-wide official registration and fingerprint record of all aliens now in the United States, except that accredited officials of foreign government, their suites, families, and guests. SEC. 5. Withing six months after the effective date of this Act, the Postmaster General shall proclaim the rules and regulations under which every alien shall apply for registration at a United States post office and be fingerprinted, and supply such other information as may be called for by the Board respecting the alien's status, occupation, duration of stay, and intention to remain or depart from the United States. Upon registration, which shall be in duplicate, one copy shall be mailed to the Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization of the Department of Labor, Washington, District of Columbia, and the second copy shall be mailed to the Director of the Division of Identification of the Department of Justice, Washington, District of Columbia, for filing in the alien section of its noncriminal records. The Commissioner of Immigration shall issue a registration card to each alien registrant, bearing a distinctive number and copy of the finger prints of the alien, the said registration card to be mailed to the address given by the alien upon registration. SEC. 6. The postmaster in any United States post office, or any employee in such post office designated by him, at which a registration shall be filed, shall collect a fee of $1 for each first registration, and subsequently 50 cents for each renewal thereof. The funds so collected shall be turned into the general fund of the Post Office Department in such manner as may be prescribed by the Board. SEC. 7. It shall be the duty of every alien in the United States, who has been registered as hereinbefore provided, to notify the Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization of the United States of every change of address, with a statement as to whether the change of address is permanent or temporary. If the change of address is permanent, it shall be the duty of the alien to report such fact to the nearest post office and make application in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Board for the issuance of a new card showing such new permanent address; and every alien in the United States shall renew his registration annually at such dates as may be designated on his registration card. SEC. 8. It shall be the duty of the Postmaster General, with the assistance of the Attorney General, to provide for instructions whereby postal employees may be instructed in the manner of taking fingerprints upon sensitive paper approved by the Division of Identification of the Department of Justice. SEC. 9. The Attorney General shall instruct the Director of the Division of Identification of the Department of Justice to create a section in the Bureau of Identification to be known as the Section of Alien Registration. SEC. 10. Any alien who shall fail to comply with the provisions of this Act shall be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000 or imprisonment of not more than five years, or both, and, upon the payment of the fine or the completion of sentence, the alien shall be taken into custody on a warrant issued by the Secretary of Labor and deported forthwith from the United States. SEC. 11. This Act may be cited as the Immigration and Alien Registration Act of 1939. [S. 409, 76th Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL To protect American labor and stimulate the employment of American citizens on American jobs Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That sixty days after the passage of this Act immigration into the United States for permanent residence shall be suspended for a period of ten years, or until such time as the Department of Labor shall certify to Congress that unemployment in the United States does not exceed three million persons. SEC. 2. That any person who enters the United States in violation of this Act, or any person who aids or abets another to violate this Act, shall be deemed guilty of a felony and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not less than $1,000 nor more than $10,000, or by imprisonment for a term of not less than one year nor more than five years or by both such fine and imprisonment. SEC. 3. That any official of the United States who knowingly, and with intent to defeat the purpose of Congress, shall fail to enforce for a period exceeding ninety days the operation of this Act, or any other Act providing for the restriction of immigration into the United States or the deportation of aliens unlawfully in the United States shall be deemed guilty of a felony and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of not less than one year nor more than five years. [S. 410, 76th Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL To provide for the deportation of aliens subsisting on relief under certain circumstances Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of Labor shall take into custody all aliens who have subsisted on public relief for an aggregate of six months in any three-year period subsequent to the enactment of this Act and deport them forthwith in accordance with the provisions of the law relating to deportation of aliens. [S. 411, 76th Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL To provide for the deportation of aliens inimical to the public interest Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That any alien or group of aliens whose presence in the United States is inimical to the public interest shall upon warrant of the Secretary of Labor be taken into custody and deported forthwith. STATEMENT OF EDWARD J. SHAUGHNESSY, DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Senator HERRING. For the purpose of the record and information of the committee, there will be inserted at this point departmental reports as furnished the chairman of the committee on bills to be considered by this subcommittee and we will ask Mr. Shaughnessy to explain these five measures, and we will then proceed to hear the representatives of the various departments interested. You may proceed. The HONORABLE RICHARD B. RUSSELL, JR., DEPARTMENT OF STATE, United States Senate. MY DEAR SENATOR RUSSELL: I refer again to your letter of January 11, 1939, asking for the views of this Department with respect to S. 408, a bill to provide for the national defense by the registration of aliens in the United States, and for other purposes. The following report is not intended to indicate an opposition in principle to the enactment of legislation for the registration of aliens in this country, but there are several features of S. 408 on which the comment of this Department may be of interest. Section 1 of the bill proposes the establishment of an interdepartmental committee to be known as the Alien Registration Board, consisting of one representative to be designated by the Secretary of War, one by the Secretary of State, one by the Attorney General, one by the Secretary of Labor, and one by the Postmaster General and provides that the representative designated by the Secretary of War shall be ex officio chairman of the Board. As the stated purpose of the bill is to provide for the national defense, the omission of the Navy Department from the constitution of the Board is not understood. Section 3 of the bill is of direct concern to the Department and its consular officers abroad who are responsible under the law for the proper issue or refusal of immigration visas. This section proposes that no immigration visa shall be issued to any alien seeking to enter the United States unless the alien has been fingerprinted in triplicate. It is not stated specifically by whom the alien is to be fingerprinted. With instruction I am sure that this work could be performed satisfactorily at our consular establishments abroad. Section 3 then provides that one copy of the fingerprint record is to be utilized by the consul in ascertaining whether or not the person making application for entry is the person whose name is set forth in the application and whether or not the applicant has a criminal record or other statutory disqualification which would exclude him from entering the United States. In the first place a fingerprint record cannot be utilized by a consular officer in establishing the applicant's identity unless the record is referred to a source where such records are kept. Unfortunately for the purposes of this bill countries abroad maintaining such records are not numerous. Moreover, immediate vertification might be possible in France, but if a French citizen were to apply for an immigration visa in China the fingerprint record could be utilized in establishing the alien's identity only after a considerable delay. I wish to point out that under existing laws, if a consular officer is not satisfied as to the alien's identity he does not act upon his application. With respect to the criminal record, however, the fingerprint record has a greater utility, but here again its usefulness could be lessened by the lack of such records in many of the countries from which aliens are emigrating to the United States. The Department is in doubt as to the intent of the words "or other statutory disqualification" in lines 14 and 15 of page 2. There may or may not be statutory disqualifications other than a criminal record which could be traced by a fingerprint record. Clarification to show the intent of the law in this respect would be helpful. In continuation section 3 of the bill provides that the second copy of the fingerprint record shall be attached to the alien's immigration visa to provide for verification of the alien's identity upon arrival at a port of entry in the United States. To avoid possible loss or mutilation, if attached to the visa, it might be advisable to have the record made a part of the immigration visa itself. It is noted that the provisions of section 3 are mandatory for all persons applying for immigration visas. Many applicants will be persons to whom immigration visas have previously been issued. There is no exemption for such of those persons who have previously been fingerprinted. Similarly, there is no exemption for very young children and even older ones for whom fingerprinting could not be expected to serve any useful purpose. Moreover, students over 15 years of age receive immigration visas notwithstanding that their sojourn in the United States is temporary. The provisions of section 3 would likewise be applicable to them. Finally, section 3 does not indicate what, if any, action should be taken with respect to the second and third copies of the fingerprint record in cases in which the visa is refused. In reviewing section 3 as a whole the conclusion is reached that the fingerprinting requirement as a prerequisite to the issuance of an immigration visa will not provide any material safeguard beyond the precautionary measures established under existing laws preliminary to the issuance of an immigration visa and will on the other hand involve delay and possibly hardship in many instances. cordingly, the thought suggests itself that such fingerprinting might more effectively take place upon arrival of the alien in this country or within a specified limited period subsequent thereto. In section 4 the word "that" on line 4 appears to be unnecessary. Ac The succeeding sections of S. 408 have no direct concern to this Department and are of principal interest to the Department of Labor. However, in connection with the portion of section 5 which provides for the issuance of a registration card to each alien registrant, the suggestion is offered that a photograph of the alien, in addition to his fingerprints, on the registration card might be a useful addition for primary identification purposes. In some countries two such photographs are affixed to the registration card, one front view and the other profile. It is also observed that section 5 provides that "every alien" shall apply for registration. It may have been intended that the provisions of section 5 should apply to all aliens, immigrants as well as nonimmigrants, but it seems logical to anticipate that it might be desirable to make exemptions in certain classes of cases from time to time. Under the present wording of section 5 border crossers and other short-term visitors, as well as persons passing in transit through the United States, would be affected and it is also noted that duly accredited officials of foreign governments, and their families, attendants, servants, and employees, are not specifically stated as being exempt from the application of section 5. Similar exemption as a courtesy might also be accorded to such officials when in the United States other than as accredited to this Government. In connection with these observations your committee might wish to consider the advisability of inserting in the law a provision affording some degree of flexibility to meet desirable changes in the future by authorizing the Board to make exemption from any or all of the provisions of the law in such classes of cases as the Board may specify from time to time in regulations. If this Department can be of further assistance to your committee in its studies of this proposed legislation, I shall be glad if you will inform me. This report has been referred to the Acting Director of the Bureau of the Budget who in advising that he had no objection to its submission to the Congress also stated that he had approved the submission of an unfavorable report by the Secretary of Labor. Sincerely yours, SUMNER WELLES, Hon. RICHARD B. RUSSELL, Jr., DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, Washington, February 14, 1938. Chairman, Senate Committee on Immigration, United States Senate, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR SENATOR RUSSELL: With your letter of January 10, 1939, you enclose a copy of S. 409, entitled "A bill to protect American labor and stimulate the employment of American citizens on American jobs," introduced by Senator |