81ST CONGRESS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session

MRS. ADA M. RYAN

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REPORT No. 136

FEBRUARY 17, 1949.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed

Mr. FEIGHAN, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the

following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 1035]

The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 1035) for the relief of Mrs. Ada M. Ryan, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill as amended do pass.

The amendment is as follows:

On lines 9 and 10 strike out the language: "under the Act approved December 28, 1945 (Public Law 271, Seventy-ninth Congress)".

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The sole purpose of the bill is to waive the excluding provisions of existing law, because of two convictions in Canada of crimes involving moral turpitude, in behalf of Mrs. Ada M. Ryan, the wife of an honorably discharged veteran of the United States armed forces.

The amendment eliminates language obsolete because of the expiration of the cited act.

GENERAL INFORMATION

The complete facts are set forth in a letter, dated October 28, 1947, from the Acting the Assistant to the Attorney General to the chairman of the committee in the Eightieth Congress, relating to the same The said letter reads as follows:

person.

Hon. EARL C. MICHENER,

Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary,

House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.

OCTOBER 28, 1947.

MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in response to your request for the views of the Department of Justice relative to a bill (H. R. 2385) for the relief of Mrs. Ada M. Ryan, an alien.

The bill would provide "that notwithstanding provision of law in section 3 of the Act of February 15, 1917 (8 U. S. C. 136 (e)), the alien Mrs. Ada M. Ryan,

of Kimberly, British Columbia, Dominion of Canada, who on May 11, 1945, at Los Angeles, California, married Clyde I. Ryan, a citizen of the United States and a veteran of World War II, shall be admitted to the United States for permanent residence."

The files of the Immigration and Naturalization Service indicate that Mrs. Ada M. Ryan is a native and citizen of Canada, having been born in Chesterwold, Alberta, on May 12, 1917. On March 19, 1946, she was excluded from admission to the United States by a board of special inquiry at Vancouver, British Columbia, on the ground that she admitted commission of two offenses of theft, both committed on the same day in 1940. The first offense involved the theft of three men's shirts valued under $25, from a department store. The second offense was the theft of merchandise valued at less than $25 from F. W. Woolworth Co., Ltd. She pleaded guilty to the charges of theft and was sentenced to pay a fine of $5 or serve 5 days in jail and she chose to pay the fine. Both offenses involve moral turpitude and under section 3 of the Immigration Act of 1917, as amended she is ineligible for admission to the United States.

The files further reveal that Mrs. Ryan is the wife of Clyde I. Ryan, a citizen of the United States and a veteran of World War II. The alien was formerly married to William F. Rhodes, a citizen of Canada, but obtained a divorce from him in 1941. There is nothing in the record to indicate any wrongdoing since her arrest in 1940.

Whether this bill should be enacted presents a question of legislative policy concerning which this Department has no suggestions to make.

However if the bill is to receive favorable consideration, for the purpose of clarity, it is suggested that it be amended as follows:

Strike out all language after the enacting clause and in lieu thereof insert the following: "That notwithstanding the provisions of the eleventh category of section 3 of the Immigration Act of February 15, 1917, as amended (8 U. S. C. 136 (e)), Ada M. Ryan, the wife of a citizen of the United States who served honorably in the armed forces of the United States during World War II, may be admitted to the United States for permanent residence under the Act approved December 28, 1945 (Public Law 271, Seventy-ninth Congress), if she is found otherwise admissible under the provisions of the immigration laws.”

Sincerely yours,

PEYTON FORD,

Acting the Assistant to the Attorney General.

Mr. Ellsworth, the author of the bill, urged its enactment, pointing out to the good moral record of the beneficiary since the convictions for the two minor crimes, and to the fact that Mr. and Mrs. Ryan, now residing in British Columbia, sincerely desire to return to Mr. Ryan's home in Oregon.

The committee recommends the passage of the measure.

FEBRUARY 17, 1949.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed

Mr. CASE of New Jersey, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 1041]

The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 1041) for the relief of Jeannette and Jesus Esteva and their four children, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with amendments and recommend that the bill as amended do pass. The amendments are as follows:

On line 10 substitute a comma for the period as it appears after the words "United States" and add the following: "upon payment of visa fees and head tax."

Add section 2 to read as follows:

SEC. 2. Upon the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State is authorized and directed to instruct the proper quota-control officer to deduct six numbers from the nonpreference category of the first available immigration quota of the Philippine Islands.

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The sole purpose of the bill is to permit to remain permanently in this country a family of six natives and citizens of the Philippine Islands. The amendment provides for the customary quota deduction and for the payment of visa fees and head taxes as provided by existing law.

GENERAL INFORMATION

The complete facts in this case are set forth in a letter from the assistant to the Attorney General to the chairman of the committee in the Eightieth Congress, referring to H. R. 5384, a bill then pending for the relief of the same family, under the date of June 21, 1948. the said letter reads as follows:

Hon. EARL C. MICHENER,

Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary,

House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.

JUNE 21, 1948.

MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in response to your request for the views of this Department relative to the bill (H. R. 5384) for the relief of Jeannette and Jesus Esteva and their four children, aliens.

The bill would direct the Attorney General to record the lawful admission for permanent residence of Jeannette and Jesus Esteva and their four children, as of August 13, 1945, the date on which they arrived at the port of San Francisco, Calif. It would further provide that from the date of the approval of the act such aliens shall be deemed to be lawfully admitted residents of the United States. The files of the Immigration and Naturalization Service of this Department disclose that the aliens are a family consisting of a father, Jesus T. Esteva, aged 43; a mother, Jeannette Esteva, aged 44; and their four minor children, Maria, Guadalupe, Rosario, and Alberto, who range in age from 9 to 16 years. They are all natives and citizens of the Philippine Islands. They arrived in the United States at the port of San Francisco, Calif., on August 13, 1945, and the father and four children were admitted in transit for 60 days under section 3 (3) of the Immigration Act of 1924, upon a waiver of documents as war evacuees. The mother was admitted under the erroneous impression that she was a citizen of the United States. Her application for a certificate of derivative citzienship was subsequently denied on September 26, 1946, because of her inability to establish the citizenship status of her father through whom she claimed citizenship. On January 30, 1948, the aliens were found to be subject to deportation on the ground that they were not in possession of immigration visas at the time of entry into the United States. They declined to apply for the privilege of voluntary departure stating that they desired to remain permanently in the United States. No order or warrants of deportation have as yet been issued and further proceedings have been deferred pending consideration of this bill. The aliens are unable to adjust their immigration status because the quota of the Philippine Islands to which they are chargeable is greatly oversubscribed.

The alien father is employed in San Francisco and has invested $3,000 in a home for his family. In addition he has $18,000 in bank. The alien mother is engaged in the care of the home and family and the children are all attending school. The oldest child has graduated from high school with high honors and is now attending the Women's College of San Francisco. There is no evidence tending to show that the members of this family have been other than persons of good moral character.

The record includes letters from a United States naval officer and several American citizens who were interned as prisoners of war by the Japanese in Manila. These persons speak favorably of the adult aliens and credit them with having saved the lives of many Americans who were imprisoned by the Japanese. They state that the alien father and mother, at the risk of torture and death to themselves and their children, procured food and medical supplies at their own expense, and augmented these purchases by denying themselves and their own children of their rations, in order that they might render aid to the interned Americans. They state that the acts of assistance performed by these aliens were forbidden by the Japanese and that several of the aliens' associates, including the priest who acted as final liaison for supplying medicines and food to the prisoners, were captured, tortured, and killed by the Japanese.

Whether in this case the general provisions of the immigration laws should be waived presents a question of legislative policy concerning which this Department prefers not to make any recommendation. If, however, the bill should be given favorable consideration it is recommended that it be amended by adding the following:

, upon payment of visa fees and head tax.

"SEC. 2. Upon the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State is authorized and directed to instruct the proper quota-control officer to deduct six numbers from the nonpreference category of the first available immigration quota of the Philippine Islands."

Yours sincerely,

PEYTON FORD,

The Assistant to the Attorney General.

Mr. Havenner, the author of the bill, appeared before a subcommittee of the Committee on the Judiciary and urged the enactment of this measure.

O

FEBRUARY 17, 1949.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House and ordered to be printed

Mr. WALTER, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the

following

REPORT

To accompany H. R. 10791

The Committee on the Judiciary to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 1079) for the relief of Maria Veltri Magnone, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with amendments and recommend that the bill do pass.

The amendment is as follows:

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu thereof the following:

"That notwithstanding the provisions of the second category of Section 3 of the Immigration Act of February 5, 1917, (8 U. S. C. 136 (a)), or any provisions of the Act of March 4, 1929 relating to entry after deportation, (8 U. S. C. 180), Maria Veltri Magnone, the wife of a citizen of the United States, and the mother of a United States citizen daughter, may be admitted to the United States for permanent residence provided that she is found otherwise admissible under the provisions of the immigration laws."

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of the bill, as amended, is to permit Mrs. Maria Veltri Magnone, the wife and the mother of American citizens respectively, to return to the United States for permanent residence.

GENERAL INFORMATION

The complete facts in this case are set forth in a letter, dated June 7, 1948, from the Assistant to the Attorney General to the Chairman of the Committee in the Eightieth Congress, relating to the same perThe said letter reads as follows:

son.

HON. EARL C. MICHENER,

Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary,

House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.

JUNE 7, 1948.

MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in response to your request for the views of this Department relative to the bill (H. R. 4227) for the relief of Maria Veltri Magnone, an alien.

H. Repts., 81-1. vol. 1-53