APPENDIX ADDITIONAL SUBMISSIONS FOR THE RECORD OCTOBER 9, 1996 Prepared Written Statement John Nelson Washburn Semi-retired Attorney and Counsellor at Law, and a former Member, American Immigration Lawyers Assoniation, and Member, Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States, sworn in, April 9, 1962, by Mr. Chief Justice Earl Warren on Citizenship USA 1840 Style The Naturalization Fraud at Philadelphia submitted for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on "INS Naturalization Practices", held at 10 a.m., October 9, 1996, in 226 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg. In revelations contained in the voluminous material that Rosemary Jenks representing the Center for Immigration Studies has submitted for this Hearing today, both INS Commissioner Doris Meissner and INS Executive Associate Commissioner T. Alexander Aleinikoff are shown to have been actively engaged during 1995-1996 in promoting naturalization initiatives of dubious merit under the logo of "Citizenship USA". Whether buch efforts at promotion are worse than dubious and essentially phoney will depend upon the degree to which they coincide and/or overlap with campaign ploys directed by the White House designed to ensure reelection and a second term for President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore, Jr. If Wall Street Journal staff writers in their piece of Monday, October 21, 1996 correctly identified Doris Meissner's late husband as the immediate U.S. Commerce Department supervisor of the ubiquitous and mysterious John Huang, then "Citizenship USA"could well include major political mischief. In his lead-off Statement for the present Administration, former University of Michigan Law Professor Aleinikoff has with pride pointed to the INS first year accomplishment of processing some 1.3 million naturalization applications and of producing thereby 1.1 new American citizens "without compromising the integrity of the adjudication". But in so doing he has given himself and his Justice Department INS an escape hatch, framed in the phrase he used "opportunity for fraud". Yet, lest that phrase draw undue attention, he has submerged it in comments about INS monitoring measures to achieve compliance with certain improved standards. In order to cut through such cant. I hope to make sure that for these 1.1 million newly-minted American citizens there was no superficial short course provided by INS Adjudicators in testing the required knowledge applicants have of U.S. history and government. To enlighten all concerned, including Commissioner Meissner and Professor Aleinikoff, I submit for publication in the record as an integral part of my prepared written statement four historical items, all dating back to October-November 1840: these items with source noted represent both North and South newspaper coverage (Philadelphia, October 24; Savannah, October 29; Baltimore, October 30; and Baltimore, November 11 - in that order) of a political scandal in 1840 on the eve of a Presidential election held in the State of Pennsylvania. As the final item of November 11 confirms, this Philadelphia story had, at least for the Whig cause, a happy ending in that the 1836 winning Presidential candidate Martin Van Buren lost in 1840 in the race against his same rival but by the narrowest of margins, viz. 264 votes, in the State of Pennsylvania. To the 16 men comprising the Harrison and Tyler Association Executive Committee for the City and County of Philadelphia belongs much of the credit for proving the truth of the saying, often cited by newspaperman Nathan Sargent later in the 1840s as Washington correspondent for Philadelphia's United States Gazette: "liberty can only be preserved by eternal vigilance". And, added Putney, Vermont native Sargent in that newspaper on July 13, 1846: "Corruption is the worst enemy of liberty, and this assumes as many shapes as Proteus himself....The Evil one himself never resorted to more adroit tricks to gain confidence and deceive than does corruption in a government." 41-503 97-12 ELECTION FRAUDS.j The undersigned, the EXECUTIVE! COPIMIT of the Harrison and Tyler Association for for City and County of l'hilipdelpah, ge their duty to call the intention of theif illus citizens to the ppormoke frauds on the night of haffrage at the late plection in this and the ads. joining districts, and fo the modes of prevention which have been and are about to be taken for the future. The facts now ascertained are, that the se cords of some of the courts of justice in Thir city and county, (which are in the custody of officers belonging to the Van Buren party, and known to be sative partizana,) have been inter""| polated, spurious declarations of intention have been pasted in the records, and the hame of at least one of the judges has been forged to natur alization certificates; thus potting in circulation naturalization papers as genuine, which ar no validity whatever, being either themselves spurious or founded on spurious declarations. The number of these aputions papers still in a short time be precisely ascertained i Active measures have been taken by the proper authorities for the detection of those who have been.instrumental in these fabrica. tinus, and will be faithfully persevered in until the guilty shall be legally ascertained, and the laws and justien of the country avenged by their exemplary punishment. THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE announce to their fellow citizens that they have taken mee. sures to prevent a repetition of such enormities at the Presidential election! Accurate lists of. all the naturalization papers recently granted. bthe coarts of this city and connly are prepar ing, and will be furnished to the Inspectors of this and other counties, so that any one of •fering to vote on papers irregularly or fraudu lently issued or obtained will be at once:de tected. Every one who has recently obtained „his. certificate of naturalization can easily ancer-. tain if it be genuine. A little refection upon the danger, if not certainty, of detection which those will incur who attenipt to vein on papers fraudulently obtained, will convince them of the prudence of this precaution, and deter them from offering their suffrage until they have clearly ascertained that they possess the right. 1 .... Wo have reason to believe that the aumber of fraudulent naturalization papers raanu factured in his city within the last few weeks in very numerous, and that they have been circulated not only in the neighboring! counties, hut in those more distant, especially along the line of the State improvementa. In order to aid in the detection of the origi nators of these frauds, as well ha, those who. are willing to avail themselves of them to ob-. tain the privilege of voting, we particularly requent all who have an interest in preserving the purity of the ballot box, in the different election districts in the State, to take the name and residence of every one who present himself to vote og naturalization papers purporting to have been issned by any of the courts in Philadelphia within the last three months, the date of the paper, the court from which it is sued, the name of the clerk or other officer whose signature shall appear upon it, and to forward a memorandum of all such particulars to e immediately after the closing of the election. .... tipon the receipt of this information it will he easy for us to ascertain and bring to condign punishment, as well those who have is sued the fraudulent papers, as those who have. used them in defiance of the laws.. Philadelphia, October 24, 1840. Josiah Randall, John P, Wetherill, Joseph R. Chandler Nathan Sargent," |