Fourth. While not an emergent matter, omission from section 15 of authority for the immigration officers at ports of entry to require a bond for the admission of immigrant students is a defect which was not foreseen, and which should be remedied if any change at all is made. Great liberality should be shown to those who seek to avail themselves of our educational institutions, but at the same time I feel that the bureau should have the opportunity, when it deems necessary, to exact a bond that the immigration law shall not be violated by those who come as students. The present situation works to the disadvantage of the alien in obliging the port officials to exclude a doubtful case, whereas if bond conditions were possible, as we now have for nonimmigrants under section 3, it would enable the port officials to resolve any doubt in favor of the applicant. Fifth. A nonquota status in the issuance of immigration visas should be given to the parents, to the husband, and to the children between the ages of 18 and 21 of citizens of the United States. The number to be benefited by this relaxation of our policy is not large and considerations of fairness and humanity fully support my recommendation. Certainly American wives should have the right to petition for nonquota status for their alien husbands just as we now confer the right upon American husbands to petition for nonquota status for their alien wives. Sixth. A refund of passage money should not be made, as it now is, to an alien who by his own fraud and deceit has prevailed upon a steamship company to bring him, although inadmissible, to a United States port, and I believe that the law should be amended accordingly. Seventh. A general discretion with regard to the excluding provisions of the immigration laws should be vested in the Secretary of Labor to readmit expatriated native and naturalized citizens. Eighth. Some consideration has already been given to the enactment of a law providing for the forfeiture and seizure by the Immigration Service of vehicles used in smuggling, or attempting to smuggle, aliens into the United States. A measure similar to the one under which customs seizures are now made should be enacted and would unquestionably prove not only a great deterrent to smuggling activities but also be of great assistance to immigration and border patrol officers in providing vehicles for their use in the performance of their duties. Ninth. We have given much consideration to the alien applicant for admission, and I feel that our difficulties from that point of view are well on the way toward solution. There remains, however, the problem of the alien already within the boundaries who has not complied with the law. My sympathy goes out to those who have taken up their permanent residence here and who, from all points of view, are desirable as citizens, except for some technical irregularity in the record of their entry which occurred before any quota restriction became effective. Legislative provision should be made to legalize the residence of these people by nunc pro tunc examinations before immigrant inspectors and officers of the Public Health Service, thus dispensing with the unnecessary hardship of departure and reapplication under the existing quotas. Tenth. I further believe that if a measure providing for legalization of the residence of certain aliens is enacted, it should confer a discretion upon the Secretary of Labor to permit the permanent residence here of political refugees who are now in the country under a nonimmigrant status. Eleventh. I wish again to stress the need for a broader measure providing for the deportation of aliens who entered without inspection and of alien criminals and public charges, and to emphasize that some penalty in addition to deportation should be imposed upon those who attempt to gain admission surreptitiously or by false and misleading statements. Twelfth. Apropos of the above, I should like to invite your particular attention to the recommendations which you will find earlier in this report, that an addition of 150 immigrant inspectors to our present force be made possible and that the border patrol force be increased to 1,000. Thirteenth. As a protection to those who are legally here and to discourage attempts to gain admission in violation of our statutes, authority and funds should be given the department to make a country-wide survey and registration of our alien population, and to institute a registration system for newcomers. We can not more than estimate the number who are here unlawfully and who are daily effecting entry surreptitiously and by means of false and misleading statements; but with the result of such a survey and registration we could approach Congress with the proper recommendations for legislative control of the alien problem. Fourteenth. The very nature of the services performed by immigration officers requires that they be subject to transfer at will throughout 35 immigration districts, including Hawaii and Porto Rico, and in justice to them and to the service at large provision should be made for the payment of their traveling expenses and the expense of moving their families and effects in the line of duty. Fifteenth. Reference to the statistics in the earlier portion of the report will show that the number of alien visitors or nonimmigrants admitted each year is impressive. With the careful scrutiny that their cases are given by the consuls abroad, assisted by technical advisers, and also at the ports of entry, I doubt that any considerable number are utilizing this exemption as a means to evade the quota. However, I do feel that there is undoubtedly a certain percentage of this number whose admission as visitors is doubtful, and in addition there are many who in good faith alter their intention after visiting the country and take up permanent residence here. To keep a check upon these latter cases and to insure their departure we should have an additional inspection and clerical staff. The additional personnel would not amount to any considerable number and their efforts would have a salutary effect upon further attempts of that nature, and would do much to educate the public in this feature of the law, which is possibly not clearly understood. A system of keeping check on visitors would enable the department to be more liberal in extending the time allotted an alien visitor. Sixteenth. It is exceedingly desirable, in view of the great extension of the bureau's activities, and especially of the vast amount of accounting for small amounts made necessary in connection with the issuance of reentry permits under section 10 of the immigration act of 1924, that sufficient appropriation be provided to enable the bureau to install a detailed modern accounting system. The bureau has handled for the past year over $300,000 in $3 amounts, in connec tion with the issuance of reentry permits alone. With the available personnel it is simply impossible to conduct the proper audit of the bureau's business the way it should be conducted in accounting for Government funds. The bureau is responsible in one way or another for over a million dollars annually, and these very considerable receipts should be safeguarded by a proper modern accounting system. Seventeenth. In conclusion, let me urge a codification of the complex body of laws under which we are now working. Immigration legislation dates back to the early part of the nineteenth century, and our laws are administered in correlation to many other measures pertaining to naturalization, passports, and citizenship. The need for such codification has long been manifest, and I feel that if this were accomplished it would be of the greatest possible assistance practically to every officer and employee of a service which has now grown to one of the most important in the Government. Any revision or codification of the law should have as its basis the act of 1924 and bring into conformity with this act all other pertinent legislation. CONCLUSION In concluding this report, I desire to make special mention of the fine spirit of cooperation which has characterized the Immigration Service during the past year. The enforcement of the immigration laws to-day is a task sufficient to engage the best efforts of the force now available. I feel that the result attained has been a most favorable one. The various district heads and their assistants, the rank and file of the inspection force, and clerical staff have all contributed to make it possible for the bureau to function with remarkable ease during what I regard as the most notable year in immigration history. Practically the entire field force has been compelled to work overtime week days and often on Sundays and holidays. They are entitled to the gratitude of the country at large as well as the bureau and the department. Substantial progress has been made toward better organization, and another year will increasingly show this improvement. I wish also to express my deep appreciation of the cooperation of the Consular Service, Public Health officials, Customs Service, and officials of the various other governmental departments, all of whom have shown a real spirit of cooperation. Respectfully submitted." HARRY E. HULL, |