Immigration Law Commons^™

Extended Voluntary Departure: Limiting The Attorney General's Discretion In Immigration Matters, Lynda J. Oswald

Michigan Law Review

Fifteen times in the past quarter-century, the Attorney General has decreed that aliens of certain nationalities could temporarily remain in the United States regardless of their visa status. Government officials have characterized these grants of blanket extended voluntary departure (EVD) as a means of protecting aliens from life-threatening conditions in their homelands. The Attorney General's actions were apparently undertaken for humanitarian reasons and went largely unnoticed by the public.

Part I of this Note defines EVD and distinguishes it from related forms of deportation relief. Part II describes the Employees Union court's holding. The evolution of American perceptions of immigration …

Theories Of Loss Of Citizenship, T. Alexander Aleinikoff

Michigan Law Review

The underlying issue that I address in this essay is whether the Constitution ought to be read to prohibit denationalization of U.S. citizens. (I will use the term "denationalization" to refer to the government's act of terminating citizenship. "Expatriation" will be used to refer to an individual's voluntary relinquishment of citizenship.) In examining this question, I will explore citizenship from four different perspectives - rights, consent, contract, and community - in search of a theoretical framework for the Supreme Court's doctrine in the denationalization cases.

Studying Immigration: A Border Crossed, Lynda S. Zengerle

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Immigration: Process and Policy by Thomas Alexander Aleinikoff and David A. Martin

The Second Generation Of Immigrants, Henry G. Schermers

Michigan Law Review

During the 1960s, many workers from the Mediterranean region migrated to more northerly regions of Europe. Often they brought their wives, and children were born in the host country. The situation of these children, the "second generation" of immigrants, deserves our attention.

In many respects the offspring who make up this second generation of immigrants are closer to their country of residence than to the country of their parents. Yet the desirability of integrating these young people into the country where they were born and live may be questioned. If they are able to speak their parents' language, they could …

The Indefinite Detention Of Excluded Aliens: Statutory And Constitutional Justifications And Limitations, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Part I of this Note examines the statutory authority for the indefinite detention of excluded aliens. It concludes that although the INA does not explicitly authorize such detention, the statute's purposes and specific provisions imply that Congress intended to establish a statutory preference for the detention of excluded aliens. The Note then argues in Part II that indefinite detention is constitutionally permissible when it is necessary to vindicate the government's sovereign right to exclude aliens. The Note concludes, however, that the Constitution requires the government to make a continuing good faith effort to deport a detained, excluded alien.

A Territorial Approach To Representation For Illegal Aliens, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note rejects these arguments in favor of the thesis that the census clause affirmatively requires including illegal aliens in the census figures used to apportion representatives among the states. Part I argues that the framers intended to allocate representation among the states based on a number of considerations, including wealth, and chose total population within the territory of each state as the best measure of those considerations. Part II contends that the requirement of individual equality in voting rights does not apply to interstate comparisons of voting power. Rather, a specific structural agreement reached by the states as sovereign …

Aliens And Equal Protection: Why Not The Right To Vote?, Gerald M. Rosberg

Michigan Law Review

A constitutional right of at least some aliens to vote does not seem to me at all unthinkable. Throughout much of the nineteenth century and part of the twentieth, aliens enjoyed the right to vote in a great many states. The states that extended the franchise to aliens plainly did not believe that they were acting under constitutional compulsion. But given our present understanding of the mission of the equal protection clause, much can now be said in defense of such a constitutional right. My purpose here is to outline the case that might be made for the right of …

The Schneiderman Case: An Inside View Of The Roosevelt Court, Jeffrey F. Liss

Michigan Law Review

Only rarely in the study of Supreme Court history do events, personalities, records, and historical sources converge to afford an intimate view of that institution. Schneiderman v. United States, in its own right an important decision in the field of denaturalization law, provides such an opportunity. The manuscript collections of the major adversaries on the Court are well-preserved, and a surviving major figure from among the parties to ·the litigation has provided personal insight into the intricacies of the case.

Immigration And Naturalization-Suspension Of Deportation- A Look At A Benevolent Aspect Of The Mccarran-Walter Act, Kenneth W. Graham Jr., S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

This comment proposes to look, for a change, at one of the ameliorative portions of the act, the provisions which allow suspension of deportation for certain deserving aliens. This section of the statute is not only unusual in its solicitude for the foreign-born and their families but is also effectuated by a peculiar interaction of the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government. Before considering the substantive law governing suspension of deportation, it is appropriate to look at the procedural aspects involved in applying the raw statutory language.

Aliens - Denaturalization - Requirement That The Governmnet Be Deceived In Naturalization Proceeding As Basis For Denaturalization, Charles B. Renfrew S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Defendant Umberto Anastasio, arrived in this country as a deserting seaman in 1917. A certificate of registry was granted in 1931 upon the fraudulent allegation in his application and testimony before an immigration inspector that he had never been arrested. After filing other papers necessary for naturalization, defendant was issued a certificate of arrival in 1933 based on the certificate of registry. Before obtaining citizenship, however, defendant executed an affidavit which revealed his criminal record and filed a consent of dismissal of his petition for naturalization in 1935. In 1942, while in the United States Army, defendant applied for naturalization …

Constitutional Law - Deportation - Use Of Confidential Information In Denial Of Discretionary Relief, George F. Lynch

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiffs, husband and wife, were deportable aliens. At deportation hearings the plaintiffs asked the attorney general to grant discretionary suspension of deportation under section 19 (c) of the Immigration Act of 1917, as amended, which provided in part: "In the case of any alien ... who is deportable ... and who has proved good moral character for the preceeding five years, the attorney general may ... (2) suspend deportation ... if he finds (a) that such deportation would result in serious economic detriment to a citizen .... " Plaintiffs had three children who were all American citizens. The hearing officer …

Federal Procedure - Venue - Right Of Alien Under Diversity Of Citizenship Clause Of 28 U.S.C. § 1391 (A), Richard M. Adams

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, a citizen of France and resident of New York City, sought a declaratory judgment and restraining order against several defendants residing in different states. On the theory that a suit involving a citizen of France and citizens of the United States constituted "diversity of citizenship" under 28 U.S.C. § 1391 (a), and therefore could be brought where all of the plaintiffs or all of the defendants resided, the action was laid in the federal district court of New York where the plaintiff resided. Defendant moved for dismissal on the ground that this was "alienage," not "diversity of citizenship" as …

Aliens - Naturalization - Netural Aliens Who Sought Relief From Military Service Barred From Becoming United States Citizens, John Houck S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

During World War II, an alien who was a citizen or a subject of a neutral country was allowed to escape service in the armed forces of the United States by signing Selective Service Form DSS 301. A release thus obtained carried with it a disability ever to become a citizen of the United States. A substantial number of neutral aliens availed themselves of this relief from military service. Today, the courts are faced with the problem of whether signing Form 301 shall in every case prevent the alien from becoming a citizen. It is the purpose of this comment …

Constitutional Law-Aliens-Power To Exclude And Deny Hearing, Lois H. Hambro S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

In two similar cases, petitioners sought a writ of habeas corpus from federal district courts in order to obtain release from federal immigration authorities. Both were aliens who had been lawful permanent residents at the time they left the country. Mezei had allegedly gone abroad to visit his dying mother, and his return to the United States had been delayed by difficulty in securing an exit permit. Kwong Hai Chew had left the country to sail aboard a vessel of American registry, prior to which he had been screened by the United States Coast Guard. He had also served in …

Constitutional Law-Equal Protection-Validity Of State Restraints On Alien Ownership Of Land, Alfred W. Blumrosen S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

In the short period of five years, action on three governmental fronts has solved one problem of state legislation which seemed to violate a basic premise of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Congress, the Supreme Court and the courts of last resort of two states have acted to destroy the effectiveness of state laws which prohibited ownership of land by aliens ineligible for citizenship. These laws incorporated whatever classification Congress established for naturalization purposes into state statutes determining rights to own land. This process has resulted in recent years in discrimination against Orientals, particularly Japanese. The purpose …

Whom We Shall Welcome: Report Of The President's Commission On Immigration And Naturalization., Richard D. Rohr S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

A Review of WHOM WE SHALL WELCOME: REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT'S COMMISSION ON IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION. Washington, D.C.: Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office.

Citizenship-Expatriation-Distinction Between Naturalized And Natural Born Citizens, Gordon I. Ginsberg S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff's father, a native of Germany, was naturalized in the United States in 1896. In 1901, he returned to Germany with his American wife, and plaintiff was born in that country in 1905. Plaintiff made occasional visits to the United States, but was at all times domiciled in Germany. He served in the German army during World War II. In 1947, upon refusal of his application for a passport as a citizen of the United States, he came to this country on a temporary visa and brought a declaratory judgment action for adjudication that he was a citizen. The trial …

International Law-Effect Of Philippine Independence On Filipino Citizens Resident In The United States, Donald S. Leeper S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Appellant was born in the Philippine Islands in 1910 and lawfully entered the Territory of Hawaii in 1930, where he has resided ever since. In 1949 appellant applied for the issuance of a United States passport. Application was denied on the ground that the appellant became an alien under the Presidential Proclamation of Philippine Independence of July 4, 1946, and hence was not entitled to a passport. Appellant petitioned to have his status declared to be that of a national of the United States. This was resisted on the ground that the intention of the United States Government was to …

Citizenship-Intent Required For Expatriation, Willis B. Snell S. Ed.

Michigan Law Review

In recent years, many cases have involved the question whether an American citizen has expatriated himself by his actions. Expatriation in the United States is now covered by statute, but the courts, in construing these statutes, have faced a recurrent problem as to what intent on the part of the citizen is required to effect expatriation. To interpret the present doctrine, it is necessary to examine the history of expatriation, the statutes, and the various situations in which the question of intent has arisen.

Naturalization-Statutory Construction, George Brody S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Appellee, a native of Canada, filed his petition for naturalization. In his application he stated that he understood the principles of the government of the United States and was willing to take the prescribed oath of allegiance to this country. To the question in the application "If necessary are you willing to take up arms in defense of this country?" he replied, "No, (non-combatant) Seventh Day Adventist." He explained this answer before the examiner by saying, "It is a purely religious matter with me, I have no political or personal reasons. other than that." The district court admitted him to …

Aliens - Naturalization - Refusal To Bear Arms, David N. Mills

Michigan Law Review

In applying for citizenship, petitioner, a licensed missionary in the denomination of Seventh Day Adventists, was unwilling to promise to bear arms, on the ground that she was a noncombatant. Petitioner was not a pacifist or conscientious objector and would gladly do any war work in an army camp except that involving the use of a weapon. Held, that application for naturalization must be denied for failure to take the oath of allegiance in the form prescribed by law. The court expressed its desire to grant citizenship, but declared itself bound by stare decisis. In re Losey, (D. …

Expatriation Of American Minors, Lester B. Orfield

Michigan Law Review

The United States Supreme Court in May, 1939, handed down a vitally significant decision on the expatriation of American minors. Prior to that date, one was forced to deduce the law from conflicting decisions of the lower federal courts and of state courts, rulings by the departments of state, labor, and justice, and views of writers. This, therefore, seems an appropriate time at which to discuss the problems which have been raised and the solutions which have been offered.

Aliens - Deportation - Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude, John H. Uhl

Michigan Law Review

The petitioner in this case was an alien who had been convicted of smuggling into and concealing within the United States illegally imported alcohol. He was sentenced to serve a year and a day in a federal penitentiary. Upon his release, he was arrested and ordered deported under the Immigration Act of 1917, as an alien who after February 5, 1917 was sentenced to imprisonment for a term of more than a year because of conviction in this country of a crime involving moral turpitude, committed within five years after his entry to the United States. Petitioner seeks release on …

Aliens - Deportation - Statutory Construction, William K. Jackson

Michigan Law Review

The petitioner was held for deportation under a statute requiring deportation of any alien who at any time after entering the United States is found to have been at the time of entry or to have become thereafter a member of any one of previously enumerated classes of aliens who may be excluded. The circuit court of appeals in denying deportation based its decision on the fact that the evidence was insufficient, since it was not proven that the Communist Party was an organization that believes in or advocates the overthrow by force or violence of the government of the …

Recent Developments In The Deportation Process, Reuben Oppenheimer

Michigan Law Review

The process under which the United States, through the Department of Labor, deports aliens found to be unlawfully in this country is one of the oldest in American administrative law. It is also one of the most interesting, for this process deals almost entirely with persons as contrasted with property, and its development has been largely unimpeded by court decisions.

International Law-Expatriation-Citizenship Of Child Lost By Removal And Expatriation Of Father

Michigan Law Review

Petitioner, a native-born American woman, was taken to Canada by her father who became naturalized there while she was still a minor. Petitioner later married a British subject and seeks naturalization here under a statute authorizing this to American women who have lost their citizenship through marriage to an alien. A treaty in force between the United States and Great Britain provided that persons naturalized according to Canadian law should lose American citizenship. The Canadian statute provided that if the father became naturalized, his minor children should, "within Canada," be deemed Canadian subjects. Held, that petitioner had not lost her …

Aliens-Right Of Illegally Present Alien To Sue-Tortsplaintiff's Violation Of Statute

Michigan Law Review

The plaintiff was injured when struck by an automobile operated on the public way by defendant Long. He brought two suits in tort, one against Long, the other against Adamski, the owner of the car. Defendants contested his right to sue on the ground that he was in the country admittedly in violation of the immigration laws. They offered the further objection that his illegal presence made him a trespasser on the highway, and hence, under the Massachusetts doctrine, he was ineligible to maintain a suit arising from mere negligence. Held, plaintiff's unlawful residence in the country was no …

Report On Crime And The Foreign Born, Joseph Cohen

Michigan Law Review

That the foreign born, more than the native born, tend to run afoul of the law, especially with respect to the more serious offenses, is a popular doctrine which critical opinion in the field of criminology has long been inclined either to qualify as to essential details or to contradict in toto. Twenty years back the Federal Immigration Commission reported that all the evidence then available indicated a lesser criminality on the part of the immigrant group as a whole. Succeeding studies have supported this conclusion. That an adverse view of the foreign born should persist in the face of …

Report On The Enforcement Of The Deportation Laws Of The United States, E. Blythe Stason

Michigan Law Review

This report is concurred in by nine of the eleven members of the Commission. Two members, Henry W. Anderson and Kenneth Mackintosh, file dissenting statements. The Report is accompanied by a thoroughly interesting research study of the administration of the deportation laws, prepared by Reuben Oppenheimer. Since this study constitutes the basis of the report, and since the majority of the Commission concur in the conclusions and recommendations set forth in it, the following remarks will deal primarily with the study itself.

Aliens-Naturalization-The Promise To Bear Arms, John S. Tennant

Michigan Law Review

In two recent cases, the Supreme Court has held that citizenship must be denied an applicant who is unwilling to promise unreservedly to bear arms in defense of the United States. One applicant, Douglas Clyde Macintosh, a Professor of Divinity in Yale University, who served for four years in France during the World War, stated that due to religious convictions he was unable to promise beforehand to fight unless, in his own opinion, the war was morally justifiable and in the best interests of humanity. The other, Marie Averil Bland, a minister's daughter who served as a nurse in the …