| PUERTO RICO Citizenship questions in Puerto Rico are particularly involved and troublesome to the Immigration and Naturalization Service. There are, or were, natives of the island who are citizens of the United States as well as of Puerto Rico; citizens of Puerto Rico alone, and natives who must be considered under our laws as aliens. The treaty of peace provided in article 9 that all inhabitants of the island would be regarded as citizens of Puerto Rico, and so owing allegiance to the United States, except that Spanish subjects who desired to retain allegiance to the Spanish Crown might do so by registering themselves and children with the Spanish consul in the island. Many did so, and in the passing years it is found that persons of Spanish descent born in the islands, and who have considered themselves as American citizens, are really aliens, the descendants of persons who made formal announcements of their desire to remain Spanish subjects. The immigration and naturalization office in San Juan has a list of the persons who made such declarations. The organic act of April 12, 1900, (note 16) setting up a civil government in Puerto Rico, repeated the treaty provisions in this regard. Amendments of March 2, 1917, (note17) of March 4, 1927, (note 18) and of June 27, 1934, (note 19) have progressively liberalized provisions relating to American citizenship and greatly clarified the status of natives of the island. The act of May 26, 1926, (note 20) provides that Spanish subjects who preserved that nationality, and who were residents of Puerto Rico on April 11, 1899, may be admitted into the island without regard to the provisions of the Immigration Act of 1924, except section 23. Because Puerto Rico is near many islands of the West Indies of various nationalities, and because entry thereto may be easily effected on the extensive coast, it was early realized that provisions were necessary to prevent unrestricted entry from Puerto Rico to the mainland, and this accounts in part for the requirement that aliens coming from this insular possession and others are subject to examination under the Immigration Act of 1917. In the early days even citizens of the insular possessions were deemed amenable to the immigration laws, but the Supreme Court ruled otherwise in 1904. (note 21) Through an arrangement operative since 1926, all passengers who are to sail from San Juan, Puerto Rico, for New York on the principal steamship line, with at least two weekly sailings, are preexamined by immigration officers before departure; an examination somewhat analogous to that accorded persons destined to this country in certain Canadian cities where the Service maintains officers. The tickets for American and Puerto Rican citizens have attached thereto a form for the visa of an immigrant inspector, and those for aliens a form of a different color. Form 546 is issued to the lawfully resident alien. Endorsements can be obtained at the immigration office up to within a few hours of sailing, or at the dock preliminary thereto, at which time all tickets and certificates are checked. This preexamination is designed to facilitate admission at New York by dispensing with close examination there upon surrender of the certificates and establishment of identity. The method has been extended to another line carrying much fewer passengers to other mainland ports. The system serves a very useful purpose, as with the diverse and complex questions of citizenship constantly arising in the island, better facilities exist there for determining proper status and making any necessary preliminary inquiries before departure of the passengers for the mainland. The immigration and naturalization force in Puerto Rico examines aliens coming as passengers and seamen from various European countries, from South and Central America, the Canal Zone, the Virgin Islands, and countries of the West Indies. There is a fair amount of other immigration duties, and in connection with applications for reentry permits all necessary investigations are made before submission to the Central Office of the Service at Washington, D. C., thereby conserving considerable time because of the great distance from Washington. |