ization fees forwarded by clerks of federal and state courts "; reviews naturalization papers with required reports for accounting; deposits naturalization fees with the Treasurer of the United States; collects and deposits fees due from applicants for naturalization previously failing to pay the lawful tax due from entering immigrants; and collects and deposits fines and forfeitures for violations of naturalization laws. Supplies and Printing. The Bureau passes upon requisitions from clerks of court for naturalization records, and forms, furniture, office supplies, records, blanks, stationery, and other matters involving printing. Such requisitions are examined, approved, or eliminated, and correspondence pertaining thereto is carried on." Files and Index. Correspondence is examined, classified (and previous correspondence attached), routed to proper destination, and filed, as are all naturalization papers. Summary. These, briefly, comprise the activities of the Bureau of Naturalization. The organization necessary to the proper carrying out of these activities is described in the chapter following. 19 Clerks of court (except United States Courts) are permitted under the laws to retain one-half of all fees collected up to a maximum gross collection of $6000 per annum. All moneys in excess of this maximum (plus 50 per cent of the first $6000, or $3000) must be returned to the Bureau of Naturalization. Funds for extra services in courts transacting a volume of business in excess of the maximum mentioned, are allotted to the courts by the Secretary of Labor out of the departmental appropriation. 13 Obviously the Bureau performs similar services for its own personnel. CHAPTER III ORGANIZATION The Bureau of Naturalization is a major organization unit under the Department of Labor, concerned with the processes relating to the conferring of citizenship upon aliens. For convenience of discussion the Bureau organization may be said to consist of three major branches: (1) Executive, (2) central administration, and (3) field service.' The work of executive control and central administration is carried on at general headquarters in Washington, D. C., while the field service maintains offices throughout the continental United States. Executive Control. The titular head of the entire organization is the Commissioner of Naturalization who is, under the law: . . . the administrative officer in charge of the Bureau of Naturalization and of the administration of the naturalization laws under the immediate direction of the Secretary of Labor, to whom he shall report directly upon all naturalization matters annually and as otherwise required, and the appointment of . . . [this officer] shall be made in the same manner as appointments to competitive classified civil-service positions." Assisting the Commissioner of Naturalization, and appointed in the same manner, is the Deputy Commissioner of Naturalization, who, in the absence of the former is charged with all the responsibilities and vested with all the authority of the Commissioner. Through the hands of the Deputy Commissioner, at all 1 Except for the term "Field Service" no such designations exist officially. It is obvious also that these arbitrarily designated units are not coördinate, central administration and field service being subordinate to the executive branch. '37 Stat. L., 736, 737. This officer supersedes the Chief, Division of Naturalization, who held office under the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization. times, pass all administrative matters. He is, in short, in complete charge of the work of the Bureau of Naturalization, subject only to the authority of the Commissioner, and all officers of the Bureau report to the Commissioner through him. In the absence or disability of both Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner, the Chief Clerk becomes Acting Commissioner. Office of the Commissioner. The organization unit from which executive authority is exercised and the work of general administration conducted may be called the Office of Commissioner of Naturalization, at the head of which, obviously, is the Commissioner of Naturalization. Included in such office is the Deputy Commissioner, each of these officers employing a secretary-stenographer, the necessary clerical and messenger assistance being provided as needed. In this office resides all authority to estimate and allocate disbursements from appropriations, originate all appointments, promotions, and assignments to or in naturalization headquarters in the field, initiate all measures of administrative policy, issue instructions to the field force, decide upon the necessity of instituting cancellation proceedings, and provisionally determine all questions of law arising in the administration of the naturalization statutes. Central Administration. The work of central administration, which may be said to include the detailed carrying out of administrative matters resulting from orders and acts of the Office of Commissioner, falls to two major branches, or units designated as (1) Office of Chief Naturalization Examiner, and (2) Chief . Clerk. Chief Naturalization Examiner. The Office of Chief Naturalization Examiner is in immediate charge, in the Bureau, of the legal work of the Bureau proper and the field service. This office considers the competency (including claims of jurisdiction) of courts applying for legal forms for the purpose of assuming and exercising jurisdiction, and considers and passes upon the necessity for noting exceptions to judicial rulings as the basis for review as well as upon the institution of cancellation proceedings under the requirements of the Naturalization Act. *And which do not inhere directly to the field. Its work also includes interpreting the laws and advising inquirers concerning naturalization and citizenship with regard to novel and difficult questions. This office cares for the preparation of evidence for determining the institution of suits to cancel naturalization certificates illegally or fraudulently obtained, and the approval of cancellation suits for institution by the Department of Justice. Finally this office considers cases which involve expatriation and repatriation and violations of the law, and prepares the necessary papers in all cases upon evidence submitted. To carry out this work the Chief Naturalization Examiner has detailed to him the necessary clerical assistance. He reports through the Deputy Commissioner to the Commissioner of Naturalization. Chief Clerk. The Office of Chief Clerk supervises all the work of the Bureau not falling to the Office of the Commissioner or the Chief Naturalization Examiner. The Chief Clerk, who heads this office, reports to the Deputy Commissioner, and, as has been stated, becomes Acting Commissioner in the absence of both the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner. To carry out the work entrusted to his office the Chief Clerk has under his supervision six sub-units or divisions, among which is distributed the largest volume of work of the Washington office. These divisions are designated as follows: I. Visa 2. Legal Correspondence 3. Accounts and Personnel 5. Editorial and Supplies The first two of these are concerned with matters relating to the prime or technical functions of the Bureau, while the three latter deal with details of administration, intramural, and largely routine. Visa Division. The Visa Division is headed by a Chief Examiner in Charge. In this Division " are filed the immigration visas received from immigrants arriving after June 30, 1924, for use in verifying arrivals after that date for naturalization purposes and for the Immigration Bureau in the cases where aliens apply, under the Immigration Act of 1924, for permits to re-enter the country. "In this division is verified the naturalization status of applicants for petitions for non-quota and preference quota exemptions under the immigration law." The work of the division is allocated to four sections termed respectively: 1. Certificate of Arrival 2. Visa 3. Visa Petition 4. Return Permit Each section is supervised by a clerk in charge, the general clerical personnel, however, not being rigidly assigned but remaining available for work in such sections and in such numbers as may be needed. These sections have custody of and carry on correspondence with regard to the forms or blanks named in the section title, the Certificate of Arrival Section rendering decisions on applications for reissuance of papers alleged to have been lost. The personnel, in addition to the Chief, includes, normally twenty-five persons. Legal Correspondence Division. The Legal Correspondence Division is headed by an Assistant Chief Examiner in Charge, who is assisted by a Naturalization Examiner. The Division has supervision over law correspondence and citizenship training matters. The former work involves the furnishing of advice by correspondence to inquirers concerning naturalization and citizenship questions. Advice is also given with regard to procedure involved in obtaining naturalization and aid is afforded in establishing citizenship previously acquired. Normally twelve clerks in addition to the officers named are employed in this work. A sub-unit, employing one clerk and bearing the title Citizenship Training Section, is maintained to correspond with school authorities, such correspondence relating largely to the furnishing of Citizenship Text Books and supplying the names, addresses, etc., of candidates for naturalization to the public schools. 'Statement of the Bureau (typewritten). |