150.01 Commuters/198
The Secretary of State to the Canadian Minister (Massey)
Sir: I have the honor to refer to your note No. 281 of November 26, 1927, and to recent conferences held with you at the Department upon the subject of relief for those residents of Canada crossing the border daily for employment in the United States who have applied for quota immigration visas but who have been unable to obtain them prior to December 1, 1927, the time limit specified in General Order No. 86 of the Department of Labor within which they were to present such visas.
As you have already been informed, it has been found possible to grant a substantial measure of relief to the aliens in question by arranging that those who have gone as far as they could in order to comply with the terms of General Order No. 86, by registering as applicants for visas at the American Consulates on the border prior to December 1, 1927, shall have priority status as of the date when they were accorded the border-crossing privilege. It is believed that they will thus be able to obtain their visas and to satisfy the requirements of the American immigration laws as fast as their examination can take place by the immigration authorities on the American side of the border, they continuing meanwhile to enjoy their border-crossing privileges. This relief is afforded in an effort to remedy any injustice that may have been suffered by this class of quota aliens due to the probability that they understood prior to the promulgation of General Order No. 86, that they had complied with American law when they had applied for and obtained border-crossing permits and that it was not necessary for them to apply also for immigration visas.
The Departments of State and Labor believe that the situation which was created by General Order No. 86 has, as a whole, largely disappeared, so many adjustments in individual cases having been made under the terms of the Order during the six months’ period afforded for that purpose which ended November 30, 1927. The change made in the priority status of quota commuters who have been unable to obtain visas, although having registered as visa applicants [Page 511] prior to December 1, 1927, will, it is believed, afford all needed relief in those cases. Commuters born in Canada, on the other hand, may obtain non-quota visas upon application at a consulate and satisfying the consul as to their birth in Canada and their admissibility to this country under its immigration laws.
Accept [etc.]