The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1905-01-20
FRAUDS IN NATURALIZATION
Forged Citizenship Papers Are Some.
times Sold to Aliens When
They Land.

Fifty thousand voters in New York
city who have not been in this country
five years and have no right to the bal
lot; $4,000 aliens, une0ucated. criminals
even, says writer in the Era Magazine,
enjoying within few months of landing
the inestimable rights of American citi
zenship, for which the native-born
American has to wait FL years-this is
one of the astounding discoveries made
during the past few weeks by officers
Of the United States secret service in
their investigation of the most gigantic
system of naturalization frauds or rec
ord in this or any country. 1t is not
many months since the Investigation be-
gan and here are few of the facts that
have been unearthed:
l. The sale of fraudulent naturaliza-
| ton papers is an established industry
in all the larger cities in the United
States. Big fortunes are made by it
every year and hundreds of thousands
OF dollars go annually to line the peck
cts OF men dishonest enough to violate
the naturalization laws of this country,
|
citizen and the hordes of aliens who
swarm here on every European steamer.
| 2. Any immigrant who does not wish
to wait the five years prescribed by law
| before he may become an American citi-
zen can, by paying from $50 to $50, OBJ
tain on the very day of his landing a
forged certificate of naturalization en-
| I'M m n1l
citizenship.
| 3. Many foreigners who have never
set foot on American soil are by this
system enabled to enjoy all the rights
and privileges of American citizenship
even to the extent of calling upon a
United States warship to protect them
and further enforce their claims in case
of their getting into trouble with their
government.
4. There are $4,000 alien voters in
New York city alone, or more than
enough to determine the vote of New
York state, and with it the national cleo
ton.
A method of obtaining certificates
largely in vogue is to buy the papers of
genuinely naturalized citizens and sub
suitute for the real names on the certifi-
Gates the names of the new buyers The
ink is soaked off with acid and as the
seal and signatures are genuine, such
papers usually fail to be detected as
fraudulent. A close examination, how
ever, will always show traces of the acid
on the paper and in some cases the ink
on the new name has run slightly .Citi-
zens who are returning to their former
countries are sometimes prevailed upon
to part with their certificates for this
purpose, but many of the papers thus
used are stolen from their rightful
owners.
The honest immigrant who has waited
five years for his right to hold city job
and vote finds himself suddenly deprived
OF his most precious possession and un-
less he can prove a satisfactory case in
court and obtain a duplicate paper is
obliged to wait two years before he can
again enjoy the rights to which he is
entitled. Meanwhile the new owner of
the paper is getting all the work he
wants and saving up money to take back
to his native land.
Sometimes the gangs themselves
fcla;m in court to have lost their papers
and by freely perjuring themselves OBJ
tain second copies and are so enabled to
carry on their traffic