In Re Olsen

18 F.2d 425, 1927 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1070
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedFebruary 26, 1927
Docket8972, 6884, 8088, 9004, 6675
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 18 F.2d 425 (In Re Olsen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Olsen, 18 F.2d 425, 1927 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1070 (N.D. Cal. 1927).

Opinion

ST. SURE, District Judge.

In each of these cases the petitioner is applying as a seaman to be made a citizen under the Naturalization Act of 1906 (34 Stat. 596). There are several questions involved herein; one of them, viz. that concerning the matter of certificate of arrival and inspection by the immigration department, being of much importance. In view of the frequency with which these questions arise, and in order to facilitate the disposition of this class of cases, the court deems it proper to express in' writing the reasons for its conclusions in those now before us.

The Act of June 29, 1906, as amended' (Comp. St. § 963), provides for the registering of and the issuance of certificate of arrival to all aliens arriving in the United States from and after the passage of the act, “and it shall be the duty of said Commissioner of Immigration to cause to be granted to such alien a certificate of registry,” with the particulars thereof. Paragraph 4 of the second subdivision of section 4 of the aforesaid act (Comp. St. § 4352) contains this provision:

“At the time of filing his petition there shall be filed with the clerk of' the court a certificate from the Department of Commerce and Labor, if the petitioner arrives in the United States after the passage of this act [that is, on and after June 29, 1906], stating the date, place, and manner of his arrival in the United States, * * * which certificate ' * * * shall be attached ■to and made a part of said petition.”

Erom these several provisions of the law it is plain that two prior acts are essential to a valid petition for naturalization: (1) Inspection and registration upon arrival; (2) the filing with the petition for citizenship in the office of the clerk of the court of a certificate of arrival and the declaration' of intention'. ‘ .....

*426 It is equally clear that the Act of June 29, 1906, requiring inspection and registration, applies to all who desire to acquire legal residence in the United States and to become naturalized citizens thereof (In re Eberhardt [D. C.] 270 F. 334; U. S. V. Ness, 245 U. S. 319, 38 S. Ct. 118, 62 L. Ed. 321), including seamen; In re Hollo [D. C.] 206 F. 852; In re Jensen [D. C.] 11 F.[2d] 414; In re Connal [D. C.] 8 F.[2d] 374). In the last ease it was held that a certificate of arrival of an alien seaman permitting him to land under the Immigration Law of 1917, § 33, thereof (Comp. St. § 4289(4rr), as an alien intending to reship, was insufficient as the basis of a petition for naturalization, .notwithstanding that the alien, due to lapse of time, could not be deported under section 34 of said Immigration Law (Comp. St. § 4289:*4s), in that the alien was not a resident of the United States when he attempted to make his declaration of intention, which was invalid by reason thereof, and that an alien seaman is not relieved from proof, by a certificate of arrival, that he had been admitted to permanent residence in this country, or that he was a resident when his declaration of intention was filed.

In Re Jensen it was held that an alien, applying for naturalization under the Act of June 29, 1906, as amended May 9, 1918 (Comp. St. §§ 4352-4352aa, 4369, 4382), who unlawfully entered the country without examination and formal- admission, and without paying head tax, is incapable of acquiring legal residence on which to predicate a valid declaration of intention, and is not entitled to citizenship.

The requirements of the law surrounding certificates of arrival were for a time broadly construed, and there are four cases which are in conflict with those just cited, namely, In re Schmidt (D. C.) 207 F. 678; In re McPhee (D. C.) 209 F. 143; In re Pick (D. C.) 209 F. 999; In re Titone (D. C.) 233 F. 175. But these cases have been deprived of any authority by the opinion of the Supreme Court in the ease of U. S. v. Ness, 245 U. S. 319, 322, 38 S. Ct. 118, 62 L. Ed. 321, where it held that the certificate of arrival prescribed by section 4, subd. 2, of the Naturalization Act, is an essential prerequisite to a valid decree or order of naturalization; that it is a matter of substance, and is indispensable to the filing of' a petition; and ■that it is designed to prevent aliens from procuring illegal and fraudulent certificates of naturalization.

In the past, owing perhaps to misunderstanding of the law on the subject by those concerned in its administration, discharged and deserting seamen, unprovided with proper certificates of arrival and inspection, have been permitted to file petitions and to he naturalized. This construction of the law and the practice thereunder had continued so long that' seamen were led to believe that they were entitled to be naturalized on certificates of irregular entry. In view of the careful consideration that should be given the construction of a statute by executive officers, and in view of the law as to such seamen as laid down by the late Judge Partridge in the Linklater Case (D. C.) 3 F.(2d) 691, we are constrained to hold, as to seamen who arrived in the United States prior to June 3, 1921, on irregular certificates, and have paid their head tax, that they may be admitted to citizenship on proof of requisite facts. Such a position, however, is untenable as to seamen arriving in the United States after the restrictive quota law of June 3, 1921, became operative (Comp. St. §§ 4289%-4289%d) for at that time it may be said the world was put upon! notice that then and thereafter immigrants, no matter what their calling might be, would have to come within the quota number established by Congress.

Petitioner Aage Falk Olsen arrived as a seaman at the port of New Orleans on the steamship Manatee on June 2, 1921, as a member of the crew. He did not pay the immigration head tax and was not inspected. When he came to make application for naturalization at San Francisco, the Commissioner of Immigration at New Orleans upon request furnished a certificate showing arrival as above stated; such certificate carrying the following indorsement: “Member of crew; no record of discharge or desertion or legal admission.” Upon being advised of the statement on said certificate of arrival, the petitioner immediately tendered the amount of head tax, $8, on November 5, 1925, which amount was accepted by the' Naturalization Service on November 10, 1925. This petition was filed December 3, 1925. • The next day the matter came on regularly before this court for hearing.

The petition should be dismissed for the reason that the declaration of the petitioner bears a date earlier than the date shown by the certificate of actual arrival into the United States. The declaration of intention is dated March 21, 1921, while the certificate shows entry as of June 2, 1921. Surely the alien could not file a valid declaration of intention until he had gained a residence in the United States. The law fixes residence *427 as one of the primary, jurisdictional requirements, and such residence in the United States must be made to appear both in a declaration of intention and in a petition for naturalization. For the reasons stated the declaration of intention is invalid. In re Jensen supra; In re Connal, supra.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
18 F.2d 425, 1927 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1070, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-olsen-cand-1927.