Evening star., 1935-04-28
BIG IMMIGRATION RACKET
ENDED BY COMMISSIONER
Ten-Year Trail of Negligence and
Graft Uncovered in 1893 in
Shifting Personnel.


Sums ranging from s100 to $1,000
or more were found to have been ex-
torted from aliens for the various
types of aid offered, with the rack
eteers keeping most for themselves,
but passing out substantial bribes as |
we'll as good deal of petty graft.
The tedious work of investigation |
developed on such a scale that 1t be- |
came evident to Col. Mccormack that |
the job would take years to complete
unless a way was found to speed it |
along. Speed, ne felt was essential |
for the sake of the morale of the |
service as we'll as for efficiency in |
preventing the guilty from escaping |
through operation of the statute of
limitations.
Ellis Island Records Checked.
To accomplish this objective, he
brought into the undertaking the |
senior naturalization officers of the
large cities and the immigration Of
ficers who were rated the best in the |
service. The force conducting the in
vestigation reached 56 in number at
its peak, including more than 40 senior
officials and IL accountants. who
worked secretly at night for months.
checking over the 5000 volumes of
ships manifests in the Ellis Island
records.
Under the scheme of organization,
as outlined by Col. Mccormack.
there was, in addition to the exam
ination of records by the most skilled
men at his command, an outside in
vestigation, tracing aliens, and ex-
amining them, their witnesses and
lawyers, in the preparation of cases
and briefs for court action
A corollary task of bringing the
Ellis Island business up to date was
undertaken. Fifteen experienced i'm
migration inspectors were drawn from
other posts. where they were not
urgently needed, and assigned to help
the Ellis Island staff to catch up with
its accumulation of cases. In this
way, the examination of 900 pend
ing cases was cleared up in four or
five months. with the result that 39l
warrants of arrest charging illegal
entry were issued. OF these, 328 have
been served, 83 deportations have
been effected, 81 aliens are in custody
and l78 are out on bond pending
hearings. The largest number of
these cases had to do with aliens ac-
cused of overStaying their allotted
time in this country, and most of the
others grew out of failure to possess
uneXpired visas.
C,,-nraseaI VIaa 90 Nnriyan -
Col Mccormack described his
system of investigation as one in
which ordinary horse sense and
business methods were applied" He
insisted that nothing be done which
would give the appearance Of
drive" and was gratified. when the
returns were all in, to find no indi-
cations that any Reds" had been
caught in the net. Their absence.
surprising as 1t was. emphasized the
adherence of his aides to his injunc-
ton for ''scrupulously fair deal"
This was by no means a muck
raking investigation" he asserted.
Its sole purpose was to be sure of
cleaning up the organization, to guard
against any reflection on its per-
sonnel. 1t developed that the pre-
liminary cleanup had put a serious
crimp in the fraudulent proceedings,
with one ringleader eliminated. Many
leads we're developed which went back
over the years. Most cases that have
arisen had their beginnings in past
years. But that was an accident Of
investigation in an effort to clean up
shop"
Col. Mccormack was gratified over
the fact that his Sc investigators had
been able to operate in New York long
enough to complete tremendous VOL
ume of work without a damaging
leak" An inkling of what was 60
ing on reached the newspapers from
time to time, largely because of the
necessity of inStituting certain pro-
ceedings before they would be barred
under the statute of limitations.
ISador Lakas. an alien alleged to
have been Smuggled into the country,
was indicted on November 81; and
Umberto Migliaccio, a deserting sea-
man, on December 49, on charges OF
violating the naturalization laws. Irv-
ing Deutch, another deserting seaman.
was fined $500 and given a suspended
four-year prison sentence on December
IA, and then Michael H. Hogan. for
mer member of Congress, was indicted
on March % on charges of completely
in three fraudulent alien registry
cases, while serving as confidential
clerk to the collector Of customs at
the Port of New York. from June 16,
1880, until February %, 1884.
But, as Col. MacCormack viewed the
situation as a whole, secrecy was es-
sential until the huge task was COM
pleted
1T was decent, severe, but scrupu-
lously fair investigation, he said in
reviewing the accomplishment.
Has Faith in His Personnel.
Reverting to its original objective.
and applauding the present personnel
of his organization. he insisted:
We have got to have men of abil-
ity and the very highest character;
men who are not merely unsusceptible
to financial temp alton, but are not
prejudiced and cannot be swayed by
threats or pressure"
The outstanding point of the in
vestigation, as he viewed it, was the
confidence it gave him that the Off
cialS and the rank and file Of his
service have standards of integrity
not surpassed anywhere in the Gov
ernment." There were about 1000
when he took over the commissioner
ship, and he was inclined to believe
that the incompetents and undesir-
ables who were there got into the
service because of the scarcity of men
available during the World War.
Old Oxford Enlivened
D-TT G rono TI2