A renewal of a previous recommendation asking for Congressional authority to legalize the residence of aliens who arrived in the United States in an unintentionally unlawful manner prior to July 1, 1924, especially in deserving cases after special examination by immigration inspectors and the United States Public Health Service, will be included in his annual report for 1929 by Commissioner General of Immigration Hull, according to information obtained from the United States Labor Department. The proposed legalizations would be made at the discretion of the Commissioner with the approval of the Secretary of Labor.
Under the present law, legalization can be granted by the Immigration Bureau only to aliens who arrived before July 1, 1921. If Commissioner Hull’s renewed recommendation is accepted, this legalization would become available to aliens entering the United States illegally between July 2, 1921 and July, 1924.
Commissioner Hull is also considering a recommendation that non-quota status be granted to dependent parents over 60 years of age of American citizens. The number of such persons is not large, it was explained.
In many instances the aliens whom the extended legalization measure would affect have been law-abiding residents and have formed ties of various sorts in this country which merit special consideration because their irregular entrance was possible due to the failure of immigration officers to inspect them as to the completeness of their records, or unwitting and wholly innocent failure to submit themselves to inspection at the proper time and place, it was pointed out.
The problem is real and difficult. These aliens may desire to leave the country and return later, but in the absence of a proper record of legal, permanent admission, would be unable to do so. And if they do depart, they must, in returning, be subject to all of the restrictions imposed upon initial entrants. Furthermore, they cannot become citizens. The presence of this unassimilable element in the U. S. is very undesirable, it was stated.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
