A REPORT PROPOSING A REVISION AND CODIFICATION OF IN THREE PARTS PART 1 PROPOSED CODE WITH EXPLANATORY COMMENTS Printed for the use of the Committee on Immigration and Naturalization JUNE 13, 1938-Read, and, with the accompanying papers, referred to the Committee on Immigration and Naturalization UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON: 1939 405 MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT To the Congress of the United States of America: I transmit herewith a report concerning the Revision and Codification of the Nationality Laws of the United States, submitted upon my request, by the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Labor. The report is accompanied by a draft code with three appendices containing explanatory matter, prepared by officials of the three interested departments who are engaged in the handling of cases relating to nationality. The report indicates the desirability from the administrative standpoint of having the existing nationality laws now scattered among a large number of separate statutes embodied in a single, logically arranged and understandable code. Certain changes in substance are likewise recommended. In the enclosed letter forwarding the report to me the Secretary of State calls attention to a single question on which there is a difference of opinion between the Departments of Justice and Labor on the one hand and the Department of State on the other. If the committees of Congress decide to consider the question, the views of the three departments may be presented directly to them. I commend this matter to the Congress for the attentive consideration which its wide scope and great importance demand. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. Enclosures: (1) Report. (2) Draft code and annexes. THE WHITE HOUSE, June 13, 1938. 406 LETTER OF SUBMITTAL JUNE 1, 1938. The PRESIDENT, The White House: By your Executive order of April 25, 1933, you designated the undersigned a committee to review the nationality laws of the United States, to recommend revisions, and to codify the laws into one comprehensive nationality law for submission to the Congress. - In pursuance of this order a committee of advisers, composed of six representatives of the Department of State, six of the Department of Labor, and one of the Department of Justice, was appointed to study the existing laws governing nationality, and to prepare a draft Code, embodying such changes and additions as might seem desirable, together with a report explaining the same. Because of the wide field covered by these laws, the complexity of the problems involved and certain obstacles which could not have been foreseen, the report was not completed until August 13, 1935. In view of the unusual importance of this subject, which is designed to determine the basic status of nationality itself, upon which so many rights and obligations depend, the draft Code mentioned above was thoroughly reviewed by officials of the three Departments, some of whom had taken no part in its preparation. As a result of this review and of conferences between these officials, various changes were made in the original draft. While the nationality laws of nearly all foreign states have in recent years been completely revised and codified, the laws of the United States on this subject are found scattered among a large number of statutes, and it is sometimes difficult to reconcile the provisions of different statutes. On the other hand, there are no statutory provisions fixing the nationality status of the inhabitants of certain of the outlying possessions of the United States, including American Samoa and Guam. The nationality problem in the United States is especially complex and difficult for several reasons. In past years large numbers of persons of foreign origin have come to the United States, have had children born to them in this country, and have subsequently returned to reside in the foreign countries from which they came, or have moved on to other foreign countries, taking their Americanborn children with them. In some cases the parents while in the United States obtained naturalization as citizens thereof, and in such cases children born to them in foreign countries after such naturalization have acquired citizenship of the United States at birth, under the provision of the existing law (R. S. 1993). Children born in the United States to persons of the classes mentioned acquired at birth citizenship of the United States, and in many cases they also acquired at birth the nationality of the foreign states from which their parents came, thus becoming vested with dual nationality. Dual nationality has also attached at birth to children born in certain foreign countries, having in their law of nationality the territorial rule (jus soli), to parents who acquired American nationality at birth or through naturalization. The draft Code submitted herewith is divided into five chapters, as follows: Chapter I, Definitions; Chapter II, Nationality at Birth; Chapter III, Nationality through Naturalization; Chapter IV, Loss of Nationality; and Chapter V, Miscellaneous. Since the citizenship status of persons born in the United States and the incorporated territories is determined by the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution, the proposed changes in the law governing acquisition of nationality at birth relate to birth in the unincorporated territories and birth in foreign countries to parents one or both of whom have American nationality. Cases of the latter kind are especially difficult of solution, in view of the necessity of avoiding discrimination between the sexes, and of the fact that, under the laws of many foreign countries, the nationality thereof is acquired through birth in their territories. With regard to chapter III, it may be observed that naturalization constitutes a vital part of the nationality system of the United States, and the naturalization measures proposed by the committee of advisers constitute a considerable portion of the committee's proposals. United States citizenship is a high privilege and ought not to be conferred lightly or upon a doubtful showing. The experience of the naturalization courts and administrative officers who have had to deal directly with the problems presented has demonstrated, however, the need for an accurate, comprehensive, and detailed Code by which naturalization is to be conferred and any abuse of the process remedied. No alien has the slightest right to naturalization unless all statutory requirements are complied with, and every certificate of citizenship must be treated as granted on condition that the Government may challenge it in regular proceedings for that purpose and demand its revocation unless issued in accordance with statutory requirements. The proposed Code, herewith, represents a studied effort to draft a measure which would conform to the constitutional requirement that the rule of naturalization be "uniform," and facilitate the naturalization of worthy candidates, while protecting the United States against adding to its body of citizens persons who would be a potential liability rather than an asset. The provisions of Chapter IV, Loss of Nationality, are of special importance. Loss of nationality is in all cases to result from the existence of stated facts. In this relation mention may be made of the provisions of section 501, in which diplomatic and consular officers are required to send to the Department of State reports concerning persons found by them to have committed acts resulting in loss of American nationality under the provisions of chapter IV of the proposed act. It is important to note that such reports are intended merely for the information of the Department of State, the Department of Labor, and any other branches of the Government which may be interested. Chapter V, Miscellaneous, in addition to the provision of section 501, mentioned above, contains a provision (sec. 502) for the issuance of certificates of nationality, for use in foreign states in cases of American nationals other than naturalized citizens. The most important changes in the existing laws proposed in the annexed code are as follows: (1) The provision of section 201 (g) requiring that, in order that a person born abroad may acquire citizenship of the United States at birth when only one of his parents is a citizen of the United States, the latter must have resided 10 years in the United States. The requirement of the existing law concerning residence in the United States as a condition to retention of citizenship has been modified for the benefit of children of persons representing the Government or American commercial or other interests; (2) The provisions of chapter III concerning the facilitating of naturalization under special conditions, and in particular the following: The provision of section 311 for the naturalization, without prior residence in the United States, of the alien spouse of a citizen of the United States residing abroad in the employment of this Government or of organizations of certain specified classes; The provision of section 314 for the naturalization of a person under 18 years of age upon the petition of a citizen parent, and the similar provision of section 315 for the naturalization of an adopted child; The provision of section 317 for facilitating the entry into the United States and naturalization, without the usual requirements concerning residence in the United States, of a person who was formerly a citizen of the United States but who became expatriated while residing in a foreign country through the naturalization of a parent therein; (3) The provisions of chapter IV concerning loss of nationality, especially the following: The provisions of section 402 concerning loss of nationality by a naturalized citizen as a result of the following acts: "(a) Residing for at least two years in the territory of a foreign state of which he was formerly a national or in which the place of his birth is situated, if he acquires through such residence the nationality of such foreign state by operation of the law thereof; "(b) Residing continuously for three years in the territory of a foreign state of which he was formerly a national or in which the place of his birth is situated, except as provided in Section 404 hereof." |