Americans by Choice

by John Palmer Gavit

The declaration of intention (to become a citizen) should be retained, notwithstanding the opinion of many persons, including some attentive and discriminating students of the subject favoring its abandonment. But the declaration in its present form and practice is not satisfactory from any point of view. The procedure surrounding it is now far too casual. It should be protected by substantial safeguards and attended by a far greater degree of solemnity. Its sufficiency in form, its technical correctness, should be certified at the time of its issue by the officer of the court before whom it is attested. There should be a preliminary period of residence in this country before the declaration is made.

The identity of the declarant should be clearly established; he should have and present a certificate of “lawful entry” into the country; there should be no confusion or doubt about the name under which he goes; his photograph, fingerprints, signature, or other means of unmistakable identification should be attached; all of the essential facts concerning his nativity, previous residence, marital, status, occupation, and other things germane to an application for so vital a change of relationship should be set forth clearly and suitably attested. As at present, copies of the declaration should be in the possession of the declarant, and on file in the court and in the Naturalization Bureau.

It might well be required that the declarant should register with the court or with the Naturalization Bureau every change of residence, so that the record of his movements and behavior during the entire period of his “probation” would be available.

The fact of the making of the declaration should be publicly posted, so that not only the court and the government, but the general public, should be put upon notice that a “new member” is applying for admission. And when it comes into court at last as an indispensable part of the record in the case, its sufficiency as a document should be taken for granted. The responsibility for technical errors in it should lie upon the officer who accepted and attested it; substantial errors of fact should exist only under penalties as for other kinds of perjury. The burden of proof against its validity should lie upon the government or any other person attacking it.

Under the law as now enforced, the declaration of intention expires at the end of seven years; but there is nothing to prevent its renewal, and in those states in which formerly declarants had the right to vote, all the politically important rights of citizenship could be, and in many cases were, kept alive, as it were, perpetually by such renewals without any other test or ceremony. Even now, the other privileges of citizenship may be thus perpetuated by persons who on no theory could “get by” in a naturalization court. It should be made at least much more difficult to renew a declaration once expired. The burden of proof should rest upon the alien to show why he did not make final application for citizenship within the period during which his declaration was valid. A judge in Oregon, expressing the opinion of many judges on this point said:

Declarant should not be permitted to renew his declaration of intention. Too many use the declaration as a means of escaping something or obtaining employment; after expiration, the old declaration is surrendered and a new one requested. The declaration should disclose the scope of the educational attainments of the declarant and a willingness to attain practical working knowledge of the English language, as well as an insight into our system of government and the names of public officials, their manner of election and most important duties.

Let it be borne in mind that this is a very different matter from the question of restrictions upon immigration, literacy, and sanitary tests for mere admission to the country. The declarant is making his initial application for fellow membership with us; he desires to become flesh of our flesh, to share our sovereignty. The essential value of the declaration of intention is that it registers as of a certain date a state of mind toward our country and its citizenship. It has a moral value for the declarant in putting him on notice that he has definitely determined to put off his old allegiance; it ought to warn him also that he is passing under scrutiny by his neighbors and by the government; that his behavior has become in a special way important to him and to the community. It is conclusive evidence of at least two of the necessary five years of residence. Rightly safeguarded and estimated, it would be a most precious possession.

But the corollary of this is that the process of final naturalization should be greatly simplified. The great number of denials for “want of prosecution” is in itself an index of the degree to which the procedure is surrounded by vexatious technicalities, delays, expense, discouragements which drive the petitioners and their witnesses out of the business, mostly during the ninety days’ interval between the filing of the petition and the time for the final hearing. In the normal case, the witnesses should appear once for all; the record should come before the court complete, in writing, and once for all, except in disputed or appealed cases when a deeper inquiry is called for. Make the standards of admission as severe as you please—the procedure of complying with them should be simple, direct, as inexpensive as possible, and readily understood by anyone of ordinary intelligence.

A FUNCTION ADMINISTRATIVE OR JUDICIAL?

It may be debatable whether the whole function of naturalization should be taken out of the hands of the courts and made a purely administrative activity of the executive department of government. A good many students of the subject favor such a course. The present study has not led to this conclusion. The judges generally, while they would be glad to be relieved of a peculiarly exacting and vexatious duty, do not favor it. From the beginning of our history the function has been judicial, and very sound reasons should be advanced for making so radical a change. It would require the establishment of an enormous machinery at a time when every consideration cries out for the simplification of the government. The present Naturalization Bureau, if adequately manned and properly directed, and required to attend to its own business rather than to expand itself into an educational institution, could save the time of the courts to a great extent, and at the same time save to the situation the dignity and solemnity purporting at least to abide in the judicial atmosphere.