This decision was soon affirmed by the United States Circuit Court of Appeals; but even then it was not uniformly observed, until January, 1919, when the United States Supreme Court put an abrupt stop to the practice of accepting “old-law declarations” by affirming the decision of the District Court at New York.
The effect of this final ruling by the highest court in the land was tragic. Hundreds, if not thousands, of pending petitions, of aliens altogether fit from every other point of view, forthwith became invalid simply because based upon “old-law declarations” blighted by the newly applied seven-year restriction. In one session of the State Supreme Court in New York County a batch of more than seventy otherwise acceptable petitions was denied for this reason alone. The question of the effect of the decision upon certificates of naturalization granted theretofore between its date and September 27, 1913, was met by Congress in the Act of May 9, 1918, by the following provision:
Section 3. That all certificates of naturalization granted by courts of competent jurisdiction prior to December 31, 1918, upon petitions for naturalization filed prior to January 31, 1918, upon declaration of intention filed prior to September, 27, 1906, are hereby declared to be valid in so far as the declaration of intention is concerned, but shall not be by this Act further validated or legalized.
THE CERTIFICATE OF LAWFUL ENTRY
Assuming, now, that our alien is of the proper racial descent, the accepted age, and that his declaration of intention will pass muster; that he has lived in the United States for at least two years since the declaration was filed, and at least three years besides that—a total of not less than five years in all, including the final fifth year in the state—what must he do, and what may be done to him, when he comes up at last with his request for admission to Active Membership?
If he arrived in this country since June 29, 1906, he must produce a Certificate of Arrival. In theory, at least, all arriving aliens are registered at the port of entry by the Immigration Service of the Department of Labor. Under existing law they cannot get in at all if they are of certain excluded races and classes; if they are under contract to get a particular job; if they are insane or afflicted with certain diseases; if they are recognizable as anarchists, polygamists (or believers in either anarchy or polygamy), criminals, or, in the opinion of the immigration authorities, likely to become a public charge—a burden upon the community. They must, with certain exceptions for age and family relationship, be able to read and write in some language.
Aliens may properly enter the United States only through some officially designated port of entry, designated by the Commissioner of Immigration, if an alien enters elsewhere along our enormous border line he is deemed to be “unlawfully present,” is subject to deportation, and when he tries to become a citizen he must give a very good excuse for having “climbed up some other way.” A good many Canadians and Mexicans have found very embarrassing, eventually, the fact of their ignorance or evasion of this requirement.
The Act of Congress, approved June 29, 1906, went into effect in most respects on the 27th of September following, but this provision was to take effect immediately:
That it shall be the duty of the Bureau of Immigration to provide, for use at the various immigration stations throughout the United States, books of record, wherein the Commissioner of Immigration shall cause an entry to be made in the case of each alien arriving in the United States from and after the passage of this Act of the name, age, occupation, ... and the date of arrival of said alien, etc.
Unfortunately for the aliens subsequently embarrassed by the fact, the books for record of entries were not promptly installed, and in some instances since they were installed the immigration officials at the ports of entry have not always been scrupulous in the making of the required entries.