The Deportation of Aliens.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20550, 19 May 1932, Page 8

The Deportation of Aliens.

The representations which, according to this morning's cable news, are being made to the, Canadian Government to arm itself with greater powers for the deportation of aliens, are no dßubt inspired by the extremely effective legislation of that kind now in force in the United States. The total of " undesirable aliens" sent from the United States during the. last ten years is nearly 120,000. In 1931 alone 18,142 were actually deported, while another 11,709 left voluntarily in compliance with deportation orders. Aliens liable to deportation fall into two groups: those who may be deported within five years of their entry into the United States, and those who may be deported at any time, without re-1 gard to the date of their entry. The first group includes all who might have been excluded on entry for | physical disabilities or illiteracy or be-1 cause they were liable to become a charge .on the public funds. The Courts have decided that " entry" | means " last" entry, so that if a j foreigner resident in the United States but not naturalised should cross the Canadian border for a few minutes to see the Kiagara Falls he would be considered as " entering" the country on his return. And if he became a charge on the public funds within the next five years, through disease contracted before his excursion, he could be deported. The second and larger group includes those who have entered the country illegally, those guilty of crimes involving "moral turpitude," those connected with the drug traffic, and those who are anarchists or extreme radicals. The operation of some of these provisions has become uncertain and tyrannical,, because the Courts of different States have given conflicting decisions and because it is not easy to define " moral turpitude." Thus, it has been held that violation of the Volstead Act is moral turpitude, while violation of State liquor is not. But perhaps the greatest hardship is caused by the provision that those who are deported must be sent to the State q£ which they are legally nationals; for this means that aliens may be sent to countries where they have never lived. Fqr instance, a Czech woman who married a Cuban was sent to Cuba because, according to the laws of Czechoslovakia and Cuba, she had acquired the nationality of her husband. It must be said, however, that American public opinion has been somewhat disturbed by the amount of suffering caused by the operation of the deportation laAvs, and in consequence the Bureau of Immigration now withholds deportation orders if the alien concerned lias American-born dependents. The practice is only doubtfully legal, but protests against it are rare.