AMENDING SECTION 327 (H) OF THE NATIONALITY ACT OF 1940

FEBRUARY 20, 1945.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. MASON, from the Committee on Immigration and Naturalization, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 392]

The Committee on Immigration and Naturalization, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 392) to amend section 327 (h) of the Nationality Act of 1940, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with amendment and recommend that the bill, as amended, do pass.

The amendment is as follows:

On page 1, line 7, a typographical error is corrected by making, the word "offices" read "officers".

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

Under existing law the Attorney General is authorized to permit welfare organizations to operate a photographic studio without profit on Government property solely for the benefit of persons seeking naturalization: All this bill does is extend the principle to include persons seeking to comply with the requirements of the immigration laws as well as the naturalization laws.

GENERAL INFORMATION

There are many applications and forms required of persons seeking to comply with the provisions of the immigration and naturalization laws. Many of these documents require photographs. Existing law authorizes welfare organizations to operate, without profit, photographic studios on Government property without paying rent in such cases as the work is accomplished solely for persons seeking to comply

to

with the naturalization laws. There is no reason why the same prin ciple should not apply to persons seeking to comply with the provį. sions of the immigration laws. Not only is it of great assistance. the persons involved, but it is also of assistance to the Immigration and Naturalization Service when a person can complete his entire transaction on one call at an Immigration and Naturalization Service office.

The letter of the Attorney General, dated January 20, 1945, to chairman of the committee, sets forth in detail the need of this posed legislation. It reads as follows:

Hon. SAMUEL DICKSTEIN,

Chairman, Committee on Immigration and Naturalization,
House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.

the

pro

JANUARY 20, 1945.

My Dear Mr. CHAIRMAN: This is in response to your request for my views relative to a bill (H. R. 392) to amend section 327 (h) of the Nationality Act of 1940 (54 Stat. 1151; 8 U. S. C. 727 (h)).

for

The existing law provides that upon the recommendation of the Attorney General, the officers in charge may provide, without payment of rent, quarters in any building occupied by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, photographic studio operated by welfare organizations solely for the benefit of aliens seeking naturalization. The proposed amendment would extend the in order that the facilities of such studio may also be used by persons who required to furnish photographs under other provisions of the immigration naturalization laws.

law

are

and

The original provision for photographic studios was necessitated by the presence of numerous private photographic establishments in the immediate vicinity of the New York naturalization Office. Some were located in the same building as the Service, and one was even on the same floor. Persons having business with the Service frequently encountered solicitors for made a practice of attempting to advise the public how to comply with the to quirements of immigration and naturalization laws. The establishment of the present photographic service tended to eliminate these evils and, in addition, resulted in better photographs. There is a typographical error on line 7 of the bill, in that the word "offices" Other than that, the bill is identical with legislation (H. R. 4981, 78th Cong.) suggested by me and favorably reported by your committee on November 24, 1944 (H. Rept. No. 1925, 78th Cong., 2d sess.).

should be "officers."

I recommend the enactment of the bill.

I have been advised by the Director of the Bureau of the Budget that there is

no objection to the submission of this report.

Sincerely yours,

FRANCIS BIDDLE, Attorney General. A similar bill (H. R. 4981) was favorably reported by the committee in the Seventy-eighth Congress.

The committee is of the opinion that the legislation is highly desirable and, therefore, recommend that the bill, as amended, do pass.

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

In compliance with paragraph 2a of rule XIII of the Rules of the are shown as follows (existing law in which no change is made is printed

H

in roman; omitted matter is printed within black brackets; the new matter is printed in italics):

TITLE I, SUBCHAPTER III, SECTION 327, SUBSECTION (h), OF THE ACT OF OCTOBER 14, 1940 (54 STAT. 1151; 8 U. S. C. 727 (h))

(h) The officers in charge of property owned or leased by the Government are authorized, upon the recommendation of the Attorney General, to provide quarters, without payment of rent, in any building occupied by the Service, for a photographic studio, operated by welfare organizations without profit and solely for the benefit of [aliens] persons seeking [naturalization] to comply with requirements under the immigration and nationality laws. Such studio shall be under the supervision of the Commissioner.