862.85/2044
The Secretary of State to the German Chargé (Thomsen)
Sir: Referring to your note of April 9, 1941 in further relation to the taking of possession of the German motorship Arauca at Port Everglades, Florida, and the removal therefrom of the captain and crew, I advise you that I am now in receipt of a communication from the Attorney General of the United States concerning the matter.
After pointing out that Rule 7, subdivision I, paragraph 1 of the Immigration Rules and Regulations provides in substance that where a bona fide seaman, serving as such on a vessel arriving at a port [Page 479] of the United States and permitted to enter the United States temporarily as a non-immigrant solely in pursuit of his calling as a seaman, remains within the United States for more than sixty days, he shall be deemed to have abandoned his status as a non-immigrant and shall be taken into custody and deported at any time thereafter in accordance with the provisions of Section 14 of the Immigration Act of 1924,23 the Attorney General states:
“It appears that the Arauca, with the forty-three (43) seamen now in custody as its crew, arrived at Port Everglades, Florida, on December 19, 1939. Under the provisions of Rule 7, cited above, the crew of this ship had a period of sixty (60) days from December 19, 1939, within which to effect their departure, or re-ship foreign on another vessel. Although they have been living on board the ship upon which they arrived, they gained no rights under the immigration law by reason of the indulgence of the United States Government in permitting them to remain thereon in United States waters for a period in excess of sixty (60) days. They have been at all times subject to the provisions of the immigration law and rules and regulations thereunder and have properly been made the subject of deportation proceedings.
“Arrangements are now being perfected to have these forty-three (43) seamen removed, on or about May 19, from their present place of confinement in Miami, Florida, to the Immigration Detention Station, Ellis Island, New York.”
Accept [etc.]
- 43 Stat. 153.↩