The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-12-02
Frederick Haskin's Letter
UndesirabIes But Human.

upon aliens and to abolish all f..
are unnecessary. but that they -
handicapped by inadequate iaeIf
tie.
In other words, the lust ana
equitable treatment Of aliens
prevented, according to one INN
grafton official, by the slimness y
congressional appropriations m,
~warrantably limited, in view Of n.
fact that the income from arriyIB.
aliens in head money alone. sins
the beginning Of the immigrafis.
service. has exceeded the total nm
ming expenses Of the service h.
more than $4,000, 900"
II congress were not so stfngv
continues the official tin words "a
this effect the United States wopf5
provide an administrative board Al
Ellis island, which would be An.
thoriZed to act u individual cases
considering the circumstance
which alter each one. and Hftin-
the penalty of deportation when
ever the facts seem to justify sues
a course. Ellis island today is lie
a city with a police system. bBt
without courts. The alien VIA
commits the crime Of being undo
sirable for admittanCe in the eYas
of the law is arrested and sent 70
jail Tor d%epOTted. which in some
cases amounts to about the sams
thing without a trial by Judge o.,
jury.
A Typical Case.
There is the case Of a young
man, for instance, who arrived al
the island from a South American
country. He had lived in the Unit
ed States for three years. coming
originally through Canada, and had
an American-bOTn wife and child
here. His trip to South America
had been made to see his agei
mother. who was at the point Ct
death at the home of her other son.
He appeared to have every quail
fication for residence in this coun-
try and was about to pass safely
through the immigration inguisl-
ton when one official inquired al
most as an after-thOught as to
where the young man had been
born. Unlucky young mani He
was a native of British India, and
as such could not possibly be a-
mitted to the L. S. A. He was CIV
en- permission to enter the country
long enough to say goodbye TO his
wife and child, and then back TO
India he had to go. back TO q land
he had not seen since early child
| hood, which was totally unfamiliar
to him and where he had no friends
Tor relatives.
Sometimes" says an immigra-
ton official, "a whole immigrant
family is admitted, with the excep-
ton of one member-pOssibly a
| girl Of Is or Is who is pronounced
a mental defective. The family
may protest that she is normal but
/ shv and dazed by her surroundings.
In some cases girls have been tenn
porarily admitted through desper-
ate necessity; once in the country
| they have demonstrated their nor
/ mality to the extent Of earning
their own living; private expects
have testified to il. Yet nothing
can be done. Having been officially
certified as 'feeble-minded' or for
constitutional psychOpathic infer
iority,' their exclusion is manda-
tory. Lest they get into the poor
house or asylum at the public eI-
pense or become the ancestresses
of a line of American detectives
they must be meTCilessly sepaFa-
ted from their families and depoH-
ed.
IN other cases, where a TeTI
Young child out of several IN q
| family is found to be defective, me
mother must be ]deported win u
as an accompany alien leaving
her other children here and return
ing to a land where she no longer
has a home -
Incidents of this kind are sali
to be part Of the daily routine a.
Ellis island. and there does NO
seem to be any immediate hope Io'
imnroypmput. Yet many Amen
cans continue to wonder at the H.
gratitude Of 0ur aliens, their aeA
of enthusiasm for AmericantzaLoa,
and their desire 20 tote the dollars
that they make over here joyous.
back home.