Two months after passage of the Neutrality Act, in October 1935, President Roosevelt issued Proclamation No. 2142, applying Section 6 to the Ethiopian conflict, and ordering American citizens to refrain from traveling as passengers on vessels of either belligerent. The May 1937 amendments to the Neutrality Act[202] strengthened this provision by making it unlawful for any United States citizen to travel on belligerent vessels in contravention of the President’s prohibition or regulation of such travel. In 1939 these provisions were broadened to include any American travelling on such a vessel as a member of its crew,[203] and to prohibit American ships from carrying goods or passengers to belligerent ports[204] or combat areas.
President Roosevelt’s Neutrality Proclamation of September 5, 1939, among other things, prohibited Americans from accepting commissions with belligerents, or enlisting in the service of a belligerent. Hiring persons to enlist, or going beyond the jurisdiction of the United States with the intent to join belligerent forces, were also prohibited.[205]
By Act of March 28, 1940,[206] Congress extended application of an earlier prohibition[207] on unauthorized entry on military reservations to the outlying possessions of the United States. A year later it granted the Secretaries of War and Navy, jointly or singly, power to define areas within such reasonable distance of any military or naval camp or station in which prostitution would be prohibited by federal law.
By Proclamation of December 27, 1941 President Roosevelt established the Hawaiian Maritime Control Area, and regulated entry, radio calls, visual communications, and traffic in that area. Naval authorities were granted power to establish supplementary regulation.[208] Subsequently, the President established Maritime Control Areas for Cristobal and the Gulf of Panama,[209] Boston,[210] San Francisco, Columbia River, Puget Sound, Southeastern Alaska, and other areas.[211] On May 20, 1942, invoking his powers as Commander-in-Chief, the President established the Padre Island Sea Range Area, and imposed regulations controlling entry to an activity in that area. The next day he signed into law an enactment providing a maximum penalty of $5,000 fine and one year imprisonment for knowingly violating restrictions established by the President, the Secretary of War, or military commanders designated by him, on entering, remaining in, leaving, or committing proscribed acts in military areas or zones.[212]
The areas thus far described were defined principally for exclusionary purposes. It is not unusual to define areas with a view to confining therein specific persons or categories of persons. Invoking a 1909 statute, the President on September 5, 1939 made it illegal for interned members of the armed forces of belligerent nations to leave the jurisdiction of the United States, or the limits of their internment, without permission.[213] In a later proclamation the President stipulated that no alien would be permitted to depart from the United States if the Secretary of State were satisfied that the alien’s departure would be prejudicial to the interests of the United States.[214]
Section 6 of the Internal Security Act of 1950 makes it illegal for members of an organization which has registered under the Act as a communist organization or has been ordered to do so by the Subversive Activities Control Board, to apply for a passport, or to use or attempt to use a passport. It is also an offense for a federal officer knowingly to issue a passport to such a person. The Immigration and Nationality Act also empowers the President, in time of war or national emergency, to impose restrictions and prohibitions upon the departure of persons from the United States.[215]
Registration: The requirement that specified categories of individuals register, in consequence of their backgrounds, associations, or activities, or as a result of possession of certain articles, becomes increasingly familiar in the United States. Legislative motivation in requiring such registration may be varied and complex. The registration provision invariably provides the basis for defining new crimes and therefore opportunity to prosecute persons whose backgrounds, activities and beliefs are anathema to powerful groups in the nation. Combined with periodic reporting, registration may act as a deterrent to the commission of certain acts considered socially or politically undesirable. It may simply facilitate the informative function of government, enabling authorities to become aware of and continuously check upon the activities of selected groups of persons affecting the public interest. Or, registration may serve as a mild, yet nonetheless effective, restraint upon the freedom of individuals. Certainly, for example, it is an essential prerequisite to paroling enemy aliens in time of war, although its usefulness is not limited to wartime only.
The decade prior to the Second World War is popularly, and accurately, perceived as one of sustained economic emergency. During the second half of this decade the Congress frequently was preoccupied with the need for legislation designed to protect the United States from involvement in another world war. The Neutrality Act of 1935[216] referred to above contained a registration feature. Under the terms of that Act, every person engaged in the business of manufacturing, exporting, or importing any arms, ammunition, and implements of war was required to register within ninety days of entering such a business. Such individuals or firms had to provide the Secretary of State with a $500 registration fee, and information including personal or business name, principal place of business, places of business in the United States, and a list of the arms, ammunition and other implements of war which they handled. They were also required to inform the Secretary of State of any changes, and had to keep permanent records of business transactions which were subject to the scrutiny of the National Munitions Control Board.[217] The registration provision was retained in the May 1937 amendment to the Neutrality Act with very little change.[218]
In June 1938 Congress chose to compel registration of persons employed by agencies to disseminate propaganda in the United States.[219] Every person then acting as an agent for a foreign principal was given thirty days after the Act went into effect to register with the Secretary of State. His registration statement, under oath, required the agent’s name and address, the name and address of his principal, and a copy of the contract or oral agreement covering the agent’s services, including compensation. The agent was also to file a copy of the charter as well as a statement of the objectives of the organization employing him.[220] The term “agent of a foreign principal” was rather broad and included any person who acted or engaged or agreed to act as a public-relations counsel or publicity agent for a foreign principal or for any domestic organization subsidized directly or indirectly in whole or in part by a foreign principal.[221] New information statements were to be filed each six months. Failure to file and the making of false statements were punishable by a maximum of $1,000 fine and two years’ imprisonment.[222]
Six months prior to Pearl Harbor, Congress enacted the Alien Registration Act, requiring all aliens fourteen years of age or older and remaining in the United States for thirty days or more, to apply for registration and be fingerprinted at post offices and other places to be designated by the Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization. Parents must register for aliens under fourteen.[223] Alien registrants who were residents of the United States were required to notify the Commissioner in writing of each change of residence and new address within five days from the date of such change. All others were to notify him of their addresses at the expiration of each three months’ period of residence in the United States.[224] And by Proclamation No. 2537, January 14, 1942,[225] the President ordered all alien enemies within the continental United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands to apply for and acquire certificates of identification.