A decree granting a permanent injunction against the Michigan alien registration law passed by the 1931 Legislature and signed by Governor Bruckner, was signed yesterday at an impressive session of the special Federal Court consisting of Judge Charles C. Simons of the Circuit Court of Appeals, and Judges Ernest A. O’Brien and Edward J. Moinet of the District Court.
The decree was asked by Theodore Levin and Attorney General-elect Patrick H. O’Brien. They urged that the case be speedily dispensed with in order to prevent the new Attorney General from being placed in the anomolous position of being called to defend an act he opposed before his election to the highest legal position in the state.
Attorney General R. W. Voorhies, who defended the law last year and who retires this month, approved the final decree.
The law as enacted provided that all aliens in Michigan, within sixty days after the act became effective, be required to register with the State authorities and present proof of legal entry into the United States. Certificates of legal residence in the state would be granted after proof had been produced. The Commissioner of Public Safety under the act was empowered to require photographs and fingerprints of the registrants.
Aliens who entered the country illegally were denied the privilege of establishing residence in the State. Corporations who hired unregistered aliens or who had business dealings with “undesirable” aliens, were to be penalized.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
