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CHAPTER II

ACTIVITIES

The function of the Bureau of Immigration and the Immigration Service is the administration of the laws relating to the admission, exclusion, and deportation of aliens. To carry out this broad work numerous activities are necessary, together with close coöperation with various other governmental agencies.

The activities, in practice, are carried out under two main organization divisions; namely, the Bureau of Immigration, or central office, and the Immigration Service at Large, or field force. The work of the latter is almost wholly administrative, while that of the former includes much of an executive nature.

In order to obtain a clearer view of the scope and functional aspect of the various activities, some discussion of the immigration problem, per se, may be necessary, accompanied, or followed by a description of activities which, while arbitrary in classification and cutting sharply across organization lines, is adopted solely as an aid to clarity of exposition.

The attempt is here made to view the activities from the chronological standpoint, considering them, broadly speaking, in the order in which the processes naturally occur.

Problems to be Met. The tasks with which the Bureau and Service are concerned consist, in order, of the following: (a) determining eligibility for entry of aliens wishing to come into the United States; (b) after such determination, preventing the entry of those who are ineligible and expelling or deporting those who, though having gained entry, are found to be here in violation of the law; and (c) here listed finally, but of chronological parity, admitting eligibles, which includes much of the work of general administration.

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Determination of Eligibility. The basic provisions for the determination of eligibility lie in the law, with its definition of excludable

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Regardless of whether such ineligibility, or violation, existed prior to entry, or arose, or was discovered subsequent thereto.

classes of aliens,' but to decide which of the alien applicants for admission fall with the excluded categories, certain administrative processes or activities are essential.

Turning to the listed classes of "ineligibles" or "excludables," two distinct groups may be observed, the basis of exclusion or admission in the two cases differing materially.

The first group contains those aliens whose eligibility or ineligibility is based upon no individual or personal virtue, defect, or failure to comply with the law. The eligibility, or lack of it, is outside and beyond them and (if ineligibility) may exist because of the accident of birth which makes them members of an Oriental, or so-called non-assimilable race, or residents of the "barred zone." Or again, such ineligibility may arise because of the chance of emigration at a date which brings the alien within the excess number of a "nationality quota" of admission.*

The process involved in dealing with this first group may be designated as concerned with " mass eligibility."

The second group to be considered in determining eligibility consists of those aliens who must be dealt with individually; that is, all immigrants not included in the first group. More specifically the group includes aliens whose eligibility is to be judged solely upon individual or personal qualifications or the lack of them.

In this phase of work concerned with "individual eligibility " the service deals with the mentally, morally, physically, and economically unfit, enemies of organized government, polygamists, and illiterates.

Mass Eligibility. Determination of mass eligibility is, in essential, a negative process, and falls, strictly speaking, without the sphere of administrative action. It is to a degree, automatic.

'In general the mentally, morally, physically, and economically unfit, enemies of organized government, polygamists, members of certain races, residents of the "barred zone," the illiterate and those falling within the number in excess of a nationality quota. For detailed specification of excludables see the acts of April 29, 1902 (32 Stat. L., 176), April 27, 1904 (33 Stat. L., 428), February 5, 1917 (39 Stat. L., 874), and May 19, 1921 (42 Stat. L., 5), all included in Appendix 4.

This too may be considered an accident of birth since the barred zone provision though expressed as a geographical exclusion is basically racial. 'As previously noted this quota is 3 per cent per annum of the number of the nationality in question resident in the United States according to the 1910 census.

The fact that the law (in the case of the barred zone), the law reinforced by treaty (as for the Chinese), the law backed by numerical records (the quota plan), or an agreement between the nations concerned (the Japanese), says in effect "These shall not enter "bars emigration (in theory at least) from the native country to the United States. Normally no administrative process or activity for selection at our gates is necessary, because only exceptions to the rules appear, in accordance with the law.

If, in the face of this, members of such groups do appear for entry, or are known to be entering the United States, one of two things is true: either such aliens are claimants for legitimate exception to existing exclusion, or ineligibility regulations, or they are entering or seeking to enter contrary to the law.

In either case the task is immediately removed from the field of determining mass eligibility. In the former, (aliens claiming legitimate exception to exclusion regulations) individual investigation or inspection must be made to determine the legitimacy of the claim, which at once translates the activity to another sphere: “individual eligibility."

The process follows on directly to two sub-divisions. If the applicant proves to be eligible, his case at once comes under the class of normal examination, involving the work of medical inspection and other routine processes. If, however, the applicant is declared ineligible, the activity becomes one of preventing illegal entry, or of deportation, depending upon conditions.

If the second condition exists: namely, attempted entry in violation of the law, the task again becomes one of prevention of entry or deportation.

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Individual Eligibility. Determination of individual eligibility or ineligibility involves the personal examination of each entrant. As such it constitutes the great bulk of the work of the Immigration

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Usually persons otherwise excludable (Oriental races principally) who claim right of re-entry to the United States (after absence therefrom) because of birth or previous legal residence here. Other admissible exceptions include students, government officers and entourage, travellers, aliens in transit (all of these usually Oriental) or immigrants in excess of quota who are seeking to escape religious persecution.

This process also is on the whole, negative: that is, with the possible exception of the literacy test, examination of the alien is made to discover defects rather than to establish the possession of desirable characteristics.

Service, and may be carried on directly by immigration officers or in coöperation with agents of other departments of the government.

Information Prior to Entry. Securing information from, or with regard to, the alien, before he arrives at a United States port involves coöperative relations with other governmental agencies or with individuals.

One of the earliest and most important of such coöperative arrangements is with the Department of State in the handling of Oriental emigration. Orientals desirous of leaving their own country for the United States' must apply for such privilege, and certification of their eligibility becomes the task of agents of the Department of State.

In order to determine the legitimacy of claims made by such applicants, individual examination of each alien applicant must be made before he departs from his own shores. This task falls to the lot of United States diplomatic and consular officers at foreign ports. With respect to the exemptions allowed under the law the act of July 5, 1884 (23 Stat. L., 115, 116), provides as follows:

That in order to insure the faithful execution of the provisions of this act, every Chinese person, other than a laborer, who may be entitled by said treaty or this act to come within the United States, and who shall be about to come to the United States, shall obtain the permission of and be identified as so entitled by the Chinese Government, or of such other foreign Government of which at the time such Chinese person shall be a subject, in each case to be evidenced by a certificate issued by such Government, which certificate shall be in the English language, and shall show such permission, with the name of the permitted person in his or her proper signature, and which certificate shall state the individual, family, and tribal name in full, title or official rank, if any, the age, height, and all physical peculiarities, former and present occupation or profession, when and where and how long pursued, and place of residence of the person to whom the certificate is issued, and that such person is entitled by this act to come within the United States. If the person so applying for a certificate shall be a merchant, said certificate shall, in addition to above requirements, state the nature, character, and estimated value of the business carried on by him prior to and at the time of his application as aforesaid: . . .

'These (as has been mentioned under the mass eligibility" discussion) are persons who claim exemption from the provisions of the exclusion laws, treaties, or regulations.

If a Chinese, for example, proves himself to the satisfaction of his own government, to belong to one or more of the exempted classes (that is, those admissible to the United States) he obtains the certificate prescribed by the law.

This certificate must be inspected for proper form and duly viséed by United States consular officers. The identification of the possessor of the certificate as the proper holder thereof is also required, after which he is eligible to admission so far as racial or residential exclusion laws are concerned.

The diplomatic or consular officers who visé certificates are required to forward to the immigration officer in charge at the proposed port of entry, a report of the investigation which was conducted before the certificate was viséed. In connection with this report the family history of the applicant must be fully disclosed.

Consular officers are required also to give special attention to Chinese students' coming to the United States. The regulations provide:

In determining whether an applicant for a " section-6" certificate as a student is entitled to receive same, care shall be exercised by consular officers to ascertain that proper arrangements have been perfected for applicant's schooling, that some particular school or college has been selected, or that he is going to some responsible person who will select a proper school for him, and that adequate financial provision has been made for maintenance and tuition. Consular officers will advise officers in charge of the result of the investigation regarding these points. Immigration officers shall coöperate fully and promptly with consular officers whenever requested to conduct in the United States an investigation with respect to the character of a school or upon any other point. If circumstances indicate that any element of commercialism or promotion of immigration is involved in the case, consular officers shall

'Stationed at Canton, Hongkong, Shanghai, or Yokahama.

"A student within the meaning of the treaty and laws of the United States relating to the admission and exclusion of Chinese is a person who pursues some regular course of study, including the higher branches of learning but not excluding the elementary or preparatory branches, if undertaken in good faith, and for whose maintenance and support as a student in the United States adequate financial provision has been made or satisfactorily assured, and who, upon the conclusion of his studies departs from the United States. . . ." Treaty, laws, and rules governing the Chinese -Rules of May 1, 1917–October, 1920, p. 42. Hereinafter cited as "Treaty, etc."

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