The National Council of Jewish Women is an organization composed of over 50,000 Jewish women organized for civic and social betterment through philanthropy, education, and religion. Thanking you in advance for your courtesy in this matter, I am, Sincerely yours, FLORINA LASKER, Chairman. The resolution referred to read as follows: Whereas there are at the present time assembled in the various ports of Europe some 6,000 men, women, and children who are in possession of duly authenticated visés issued to them by American consuls prior to the passage of the new immigration law; and Whereas under the terms of the new quota law only a few of these persons will be admissible to the United States; and Whereas it is practically impossible for these persons to return to their native countries, their homes having been broken up and many of them being refugees from war-ridden countries; and Whereas a large majority of those persons have their closest relatives in the United States who are willing to undertake their support, guaranteeing that they do not become public charges; be it Resolved, That the National Council of Jewish Women through the proper channels urge upon Congress the passage of a joint resolution admitting to the country such of those refugees holding visés as are physically, mentally, and morally acceptable under the immigration laws of the United States. Whereas under the terms of the new immigration laws wives and minor children of declarants in contra-distinction to wives and minor children of citizens are not admissible outside of the quota; and Whereas interpreted in terms of human relationship this means that thousands of families will be separated for many years to come, imposing upon the husband already in the United States all the hardships of life without the companionship of wife and children, a state of affairs in direct opposition to the best social interests of the community; be it Resolved, That the National Council of Jewish Women through the proper channels urge upon Congress an amendment to the present immigration law admitting the wives and minor children of declarants to this country, irrespective of quota. The CHAIRMAN. We have a copy of Executive Order No. 4027, dated June 14, 1924, having to do with "documents required of aliens entering the United States," and if there is no objection, I will cause it to be made a part of the record of proceedings at this time. It says: EXECUTIVE ORDER DOCUMENTS REQUIRED OF ALIENS ENTERING THE UNITED STATES By virtue of the authority vested in me by the act of Congress approved May 22, 1918, entitled, "An act to prevent in time of war departure from and entry into the United States contrary to the public safey," as extended by the act of Congress of March 2, 1921, entitled, "An act making appropriations for the Diplomatic and Consular Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1922," and with reference to the act of Congress of May 26, 1924, known as the "immigration act of 1924." I hereby prescribe the following regulations governing the entry of aliens into the Un ted States: I Immigrants: They must present immigration visés, quota or nonquota, in accordance with the requirements of the immigration act of 1924, except(1) Children born subsequent to the issuance of the immigration visé of the accompany.ng parent. (Sec. 13 (a) (1), immigration act of 1924.) Such children are not required to present documents of any kind; (2) Aliens who have previously been admitted legally into the United States have departed therefrom, and have returned within six months. Of this class (a) Those who have not proceeded to countries other than Canada, Newfoundland, St. Pierre, Miquelon, Bermuda, Mexico, and islands included in the Bahama and Greater Antilles groups, are not required to present documents of any kind. (b) Those who have proceeded to countries other than those named in (a) may present, in lieu of immigration visés, permits to reenter, issued under the provisions of section 10 of the act of 1924. II Nonimmigrants: With the exceptions hereinafter specified, they must present passports or official documents in the nature of passports issued by the governments of the countries to which they owe allegiance, duly viséed by consular officers of the United States. Exceptions: (1) Persons in transit through the United States to a foreign destination. They may present transit certificates according to regulations prescribed by the Secretary of State. (2) Aliens who are passengers on vessels bound for foreign ports and touching at ports of the United States. They may land temporarily, under regulations prescribed by the Department of Labor, without documents of any kind. (3) Wives and children under sixteen years of age accompanying their husbands or parents. They are not required to present separate passports if they are mentioned in the passports of their husbands or parents and their photographs are attached thereto. (4) Citizens of St. Pierre and Miquelon and French citizens domiciled therein; citizens of Canada, Newfoundland, Bermuda, the Bahamas, and British possessions in the Greater Antilles, and British subjects domiciled therein; citizens of Mexico, Cuba, Haiti, Santo Domingo. Such persons may enter the United States temporarily from any of the countries named in this paragraph, or pass in transit through the United States from any such country to any other such country, without documents of any kind. (5) Seamen. Masters of vessels of all nationalities sailing for a port of the United States must submit for visa a list of all alien members of the vessel's crew to the American consular officer at the port from which the vessel commences its voyage. If there is no American consular officer stationed at that port, the crew list should be submitted at the first port of call (if the vessel touches at any other port) where an American consular officer is located. This does not refer to consular agents, who are not authorized to visa crew lists. When a vessel sails from a port where no American consul is stationed, but which is within a few hours reach by mail of an American consulate, so that unreasonable delay and serious loss would not result from referring the crew 1st to such consulate, it should be referred thereto for visé. If an alien seaman whose name is not included in a viséed crew list arrives at a port of the United States he shall not be allowed to land except upon the permission of the Secretary of State. (6) Aliens making round-trip cruises from American ports without transshipment from the original vessel to another one while en route, provided the original contract for passage calls for transportation from an American port to the ports included in the cruise, and return to either the original or another American port, require no visés for reentry into the United States. (7) Aliens of no nationality, and those who, when they apply for visés, are outside of the territories of the countries to which they owe allegiance and who, for any reason, are unable to obtain passports or documents in the nature of passports issued by the governments of such countries, and aliens bearing passports issued by governments not recognized by the United States. They may enter the United States with documents showing their origin and identity, viséed by consuls, under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of State. The definitions contained in section 28 of the immigration act of 1924 shall be regarded as applicable to this order. The Secretary of State and the Secretary of Labor are hereby authorized to make such additional rules and regulations, not inconsistent with this order, as may be deemed necessary for carrying out the provisions of this order and the statutes mentioned herein. This order shall take effect July 1, 1924, and shall supersede the Executive order of August S. 1918, entitled, 'Rules and regulations governing the is suance of permits to enter and leave the United States" and all subsequent Executive orders amendatory thereof. THE WITHE HOUSE, June 14, 1924. CALVIN COOLIDGE. (Thereupon at 10:55 o'clock a. m., the committee went into executive session.) COMMITTEE ON IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION, The committee met at 11.15 o'clock, a. m., Hon. Albert Johnson presiding. The CHAIRMAN. Without objection, Mr. Furuseth may proceed for five minutes with the explanation he desires to make of the deportation act of 1925. STATEMENT OF MR. ANDREW FURUSETH, PRESIDENT INTERNATIONAL SEAMEN'S UNION OF AMERICA Mr. FURUSETH. On page 6 of the proposed bill, gentlemen, "an alien who is found employed on a vessel engaged in the coastwise trade of the United States without having been admitted to the United States for permanent residence." That he shall be deported is the law at the present time. There is not any doubt about that, if he has lost his status, and he has lost his status as a seaman. Under the regulations now he can come ashore; bona fide seamen can come ashore and stay ashore for 60 days and ship out foreign in an American or foreign vessel. There is not any doubt about that, because it became necessary for us out on the Pacific to take out a writ of habeas corpus. In San Pedro where they had about 70 seamen in the detention shed and all of those seamen, except those who had violated their status by either going to work on shore or having gone in the coastwise trade, were dismissed by the judge under the law as it now reads. They were arrested because they were on board vessels which had been to a foreign port and they had no visé from any American consul. On coming back they were given a hearing and it was decided to deport them. I arrived in San Francisco, and knowing what the immigration bill was, and knowing what had taken place in the Senate at the time the immigration bill was adopted, I took the pamphlet I have here which is a record of what took place in the Senate and in the House and brought them to the lawyer, and the lawyer went with me to San Pedro and took out a writ of habeas corpus. The judge listened to the lawyer's explanation, then he listened to one-half of the explanation given by the United States district attorney. He ordered all of the men who had been legally admitted to the United States dismissed from custody. Secondly, he ordered those who had come in from deep water as we call it, that is, from a foreign country and who had not violated their status, dismissed, leaving only a few there who had been arrested for violating their status and they were finally deported. Now, gentlemen, there is not any question that that is the law now. The only reason the immigration officials do not go on board coastwise vessels and pick up those who are on the coastwise vessels in violation of the law, the only reason that was not done, that they did not have enough money to deport them all. was There was a big number of them. They knew that, both east and west, and they did not have the necessary funds for deportation, now, I am telling you this, because there is no question as to what the law now is, that the seaman who come in here in a foreign or an American vessel, and who is not admitted to the United States and who has not been previously admitted to the United States can not land at all, except under the provision of 60 days-the regulation of 60 days-and the regulations of the seaman's act. Now, under that, gentlemen, there have been some nearly 38,000 desertions during the past year. The CHAIRMAN. The last fiscal year, ending June 30? Mr. FURUSETH. I think so; somewhere between thirty-seven and thirty-eight thousand men. How many of them have gone out again in foreign vessels is more than I can say, but, now here you come, in your pamphlet, in your proposed bill to say that a vessel who brings a man here, and you will find that further down; on the second print, the one I am acquainted with, you will find it on the same page, under (c) you will find it there. Probably that will come under-well, I do not know what it will be in the other print, I have not had time to familiarize myself with that new print. Under (c) it is provided that if a vessel or a shipping company could have had reasonable cause to think that the men were going to desert, then if they violate, or after they have violated their status, it seems, as I read it here, that there is an effort here to make those ship owners pay for their deportation within five years of the time they landed. The CHAIRMAN. That is the present law, Mr. Furuseth. Mr. FURUSETH. No; that is three years, but not payment by the steamship companies, if you please, it is payment by the United States. Now, manifestly, this can not be done. Any such law could not hold, because the man has a perfect right under the law to come on shore and stay 60 days, and go off on deep water again on an American vessel in the foreign trade. Mr. RAKER. That would apply solely to a seaman? Mr. FURUSETH. Exactly. It would apply solely to a seaman. Now I am coming to information that I got in New York and that I got in conversation with ship owners in New York yesterday. Now it is perfectly plain that under the law the man can come ashore. It is also an absolute fact that I do not think those who are acquainted with it will dispute that there are people who are now making arrangements and have been making arrangements for nearly a year now, under which they put a young man on for a trip on a fishing vessel or some other vessel and give them some experience. Then, they put them on a big ship coming to the United States, in addition to the crews, simply saying, "Well, we need so many men for seamen and safety," and when they come here they drop those 40 or 50 men and there is nothing in the law or in the decisions that would compel those ships either the day after or the month after or a year 25944-25-SER B -5 or two or three years after to pay one single cent for their deportation. Mr. RAKER. You mean by that the sailor having passed the examination and having landed the ship company's responsibility ended, and you could not fine him in any way to compel him to take that seaman back after he deserts. Mr. FURUSETH. Exactly, that is the law. Mr. Box. Does the bill provide for that? Mr. FURUSETH. The bill provides for the deportation at the expense of the shipowner. Mr. Box. Where the man has deserted? Mr. FURUSETH. Where he had reason to believe that he might desert; that is how I read it. You will therefore not only get the thirty-seven or thirty-eight thousand that you got last year but the same identical situation is sure to appear in Greece, it is absolutely sure to appear in Germany, and it is almost equally sure to appear in the Scandinavian countries, and the only steamships that are not likely to do that kind of work is the White Star and the Cunard Lines. They do not do that kind of business so far as I can find out. They do not carry anybody but their regular crew, and if anybody leaves they try to get somebody in return, for him, to keep the same thing going. That is the information I get from the seamen in New York, from the seamen's office in New York and from Mr. Franklin. I called on him and I talked to him yesterday, and every other shipowner that I had a few minutes to talk to. Mr. RAKER. Do you mean these people are arranging by being on. the boat for a little while, tentatively as seamen, they pay their way to the United States, enter as seamen for a nominal sum, and when they get here at the rate from ten to fifty thousand they desert and the ship goes back without them? Mr. FURUSETH. Exactly. Mr. RAKER. That is the method by which they reach the United States? Mr. FURUSETH. Yes, sir; that is the method by which they reach the United States. Mr. McREYNOLDS. Does this bill tend to promote that? Mr. FURUSETH. Exactly. Mr. McREYNOLDS. Well, how? Mr. FURUSETH. First, by saying that they shall be deported at the expense of the owner of the ship which is not possible. Second, by failing to provide a means through which that kind of system will be stopped. That is the way the bill does it. Now, out on the Pacific, we have had Chinese come that way, and we have had them coming for years that way. We are absolutely sure to have the Japanese coming that way unless we do something to stop it. Now, you will go and arrest a few men, perhaps you will arrest 5,000 a year and deport them at the expense of the United States Government. In the meantime fifty or sixty thousand have come in. Mr. BACON. Is it possible to name the steamship lines that enter into collusion for violation of our immigration laws? Mr. FURUSETH. I do not know whether it is possible, but I know this, this thing is in operation in general now. Mr. BACON. It is a collusion by the steamship companies with the seamen and those who want to violate the immigration laws. |