Agency: DOS
Originator: DOS
From: SCA
To: FRANCIS, ROBERT
Document date: 11/23/1964
Document type: PAPER, TEXTUAL DOCUMENT

## Page 1

JFK Assassination System

Identification Form

Date:

7/22/201

AGENCY :

RECORD NUMBER :

RECORD SERIES :

AGENCY FILE NUMBER :

Agency Information

Released under the John

*. kennedy

DOS

issassination Recorde

179-40007-10320

Collection Act of 1992

144 USC 2107 Notel.

LOT 85D275: RECORDS RELATING TO LEE HARVEY OSWALD Case# :NW 54653 Date:

10-23-2017

Document Information

ORIGINATOR:

DOS

FROM:

SCA

TO :

FRANCIS, ROBERT

TITLE :

DATE: 11/23/1964

PAGES:

17

SUBJECTS :

WARREN REPORT SUBJECT MATTER IN JURISDICTION OF

SCA

DOCUMENT TYPE: PAPER, TEXTUAL DOCUMENT

CLASSIFICATION: Unclassified

• RESTRICTIONS: 1C; 5

CURRENT STATUS:

Redact

DATE OF LAST REVIEW:

OPENING CRITERIA :

COMMENTS :

FOLDER: PRESIDENT'S COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT REVIEW OF REPORT; BOX 002

v9.1

HH 54653

DocId: 32212672

Page 1

---

## Page 2

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

ADMINISTRATOR

Burenu of Security and Consular Affairs

CONF IDENTIAL

MEMORANDUM FOR:

Mr. Robert Francis, Warren Report Task Force

FROM: SCA

SUBJECT:

Aspects of Warren-Report Subject Matter Within

Jurisdiction of SCA

I. DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION ON POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS PERSONS

A. FBI Requests for Information on Iravel of "Subversives" Abroad

Requests by the FBI for information on the

foreign travel of

American "subversives" are received in the Department by INR. The

INR/DDC memorandum to the Task Force dated November 4, 1964,

describes as follows the routing of the FBI request to PIT and

possibly also to SCA, the dispatch of an appropriate notice to the

field by PPT, and the routing of any information received from the

field in reply:

"Formal memo from EBI-Mr. Hoover to INR-Mr: Hughes Indicates

that an individual intends to travel

abroad. The Bureau wants any

information.'

•0.0

75. 1

"In the case of significant travelers,

a copy i's made im-

mediately available to SCA-Mr. Schwartz and the country desk In-

volved. (If necessary, either INR/DDC-Mr. Ekern or Mr. MacDonald

should be advised of the travel notice.) SCA will note

and pass

to PPI/LS for action.

"If the travel is of no apparent significance, copies should

go direct to PPI/LS and the desk

Involved.

"In any case, PPI/IS will'send appropriate notice to the

field, sending IN a duplicate copy.

"IPS copy should be given to country desk analyst.

"If information comes in from the field, PFT/LS will send us

two copies. One copy will be given to INR/DDC for handling to

the FBI, or, 1f urgent, hand-carried of alert telephone call

will be made.

The

second copy. will be incorporated in the indi

viduals

• "39" file.

If not indicated otherwise, a copy will go to CIA/DDP/CI.!'

GROUP I

Excluded from automatic downgrading and declassification;

CONFIDENTIAL

14 54653

DooId: 32212672

Page 2

---

## Page 3

CONTIDENIIAL

- 2=

Within SCA, the routing of the outgoing notice by which PPT

asks the posts to advise.concerning the

"subversive" person's

activities abroad, and of any incoming reports in reply, has been

subject since August 27, 1964, to the following rules:

1. Two copies of any outgoing message are to be routed by

the action officer in PPI/LS to INR/DDC and one copy to SCA.

2. With respect to incoming reporte of this nature from

posts abroad which indicate that they have not been sent to INB/DDC

and

SCA, PPT is to take immeidate action to see that such messages

are routed to INR/DDC and SCA.

3. With respect to any incoming reports from the posts, they

will be transmitted to FBI by INR/DDC and not by PPI, because of

the coordinating responsibility of INR/DDC with respect to this

type of activity.

Under the procedure that prevailed prior to August 27, 1964,

it appears that IN was generally not on distrubution of euch

messages. being dispatched of received by PPT, and that SCA was not

always on distribution of them either. At present, however, the

distribution for all outgoing airgrams includes SCA, INR and the

FBI, and hence these same offices will normally be on distribution

for the incoming replies as well. However, offices on distribution

for the outgoing message will automatically be on distribution for

the incoming one as well only if the incoming message refers by

number to the outgoing one; where this is not done, RM/R reports

to the same offices that saw the outgoing one. To close this loop-

hole, it is recommeded that PPT be instructed to Include in its

airgrams to the field an express statement that any replies should

refer by number to the outgoing request.

PPT has already been in-

structed to check the routing on all incoming messages of this nature

and make sure that it includes INR/DDC and SCA, and PPT reports tha t

this is being done.

B. Information Concerning Repatriation Loans

1o. The Lookout File in the Passport Office

The fact that an unpaid repatriation loan is outstanding in

the name of an American citizen will cause the Passport Office

to deny that citizen's application for a new or renewed

passport.

With

citizens who have unpaid repatriation loans, as algo with

those who have renounced or attempted to renounce their American

nationality or have otherwise evidenced disaffection with the

United States, and with those whose files contain other reasons

that would cause

CONFIDENTIAL,

NW 54653 DooId: 32212672

Page 3

---

## Page 4

CONFIDENTIAL

cause them to be denied the routine issuance of a

passport -- In all such cases, the Passport Office relies upon

•its "Lookout File" to bring the difficulty to light before a new

passport is issued.

A description of the "Lookout File" 1s

attached to this memorandum as Attachment A.

Operation of the Lookout File with Respect to Repatria-

tion Loan Notices

Volume 7 Foreign Affairs Manual, Section 423

sets forth the

criteria and procedures for granting

financial assistance loans for

the repatriation of destitute United States nationals.

In general, Foreign Service Posts are authorized to grant

such loans where (1) It is shown the national will suffer undue

hardship and no other source of funds is available; or (2) he

1g in or is the cause of a aituation damaging to the prestige

of the United States,

The Office of Special Consular Services of the Department

must approve [or obtain the approval of all repatriation loans.

In requesting a loan the national must execute an application

form, giving among other items: his name, place and date of birth,

an affirmation that he will repay the loan, and his understanding

that after his repatriation he will not be furnished a passport for

travel abroad until his obligation to reimburse the Treasurer of

the United States 1s liquidated.

When the loan is granted the recipient executes a promissory

note, which includes a statement that he understands he will not

be furnished a passport for travel abroad until his obligation 1s

liquidated. Posts have been instructed by Circular Airgram to

The try no n ton

include the date and place of birth of the recipient on both the

promissory note and the application for financial assistance.

This Information is forwarded to the Office of Finance of the De-

partment.

See the memorandum on "United States Government's

Repatriation Loan Program" dated November 4, 1964, from OF:ACD/RR

to OF:ACD, which has been circulated among members of the Task

Force.

As the means of notifying the Passport Office of the extension

of the loan the Office of Finance hand delivers to the Clearance

Section of the Passport Office an IBM (Lookout) card (Form 5081)

coded and punched with all the pertinent particulars - name, date,

and place of birth, etc. - placed thereon by the Department's Auto-

matic Data Processing Office, The cards are accompanied by a listing

of the particulars.

The clearance section •

CONFIDENTIAL

14 54653

DocId: 32212672

Page

---

## Page 5

CONFIDENTIAL

-4-

The Clearance Section of the Passport Office immediately

inserts the card in the Lookout File.

In addition, a form

(Lookout Sheet) giving all the particulara of the loan and the

date the card was inserted in the Lookout File, 1s placed in

the individual's passport folder or if none exists then in the

current name file of the Passport Office.

When a repatriation loan has been repaid the Office of

Finance prepared a list showing the name, date and place of birth,

the amount of the loan and the date of its liquidation.

This

list is forwarded to the Clearance Section of the Passport Office,

This Section then removes the IBM card (Form No. 5081)

from the Lookout File, A notation 1g made on the card that the

loan has been repaid and the date the notice of such action was

received in the Passport Office. This card is then incorporated

into the

Individuals passport folder.

SCA is prepared to make available to the Task Force as supple.

ments to this memorandum, if they should be desired, copies of

the following items:

1) Instruction 2300,3, issued by the Passport Office on

February 20, 1964, establishing responsibilities and prescribing

procedures for the operation and maintenance of the Lookout File;

i1) Attachment 1 to Instruction 2300.3, supra, covering the

preparation of Lookout Cards;

111) Attachment 2 to Instruction 2300.3, supra, describing

the manner in which a passport application is cleared against

the Lookout File.

3. Deficiencies Noted in the Oswald Case Corrected

The Report of the Warren Commission states that "The opera-

tion of the 'lookout card' system in the Department of State was

obviously deficient...."

These deficiencies were evidenced by

the facts that: (1) no lookout card was in the file during the

period when Oswald's citizenship was in doubt; (2) no lookout.

card was in the file during the period when the repatriation

loan had been granted to him and remained unpaid; and (3) a per-

manent lookout card should have been in the file characterizing

Oswald as a 'defector'

The correction of defieiencies (1) and (3), relating-to

doubtful citizenship and the "defector" characterization, will be

discussed in the next

CONFIDENT LAL

NW 54653 DooId: 32212672

Page 5

---

## Page 6

CONFIDENTIAL

• →50

discussed in the next section of this memorandum, relating to

notice of disaffected Americans broad. The second deficlency,

with regard to the absence of a lookout card in connection with

an unpaid repatriation loan, has been corrected. In the Oswald

case, the Passport Office did not prepare a lookout card on the

repatriation loan because

Oswald's date

of birth was not among

the Information furnished to the office by ACD/RR in the Office

of Finance. On April 16, 1964, however, the Office of Finance:

issued instructions to all Diplomatic and Consular posts abroad

to provide the complete name, date, and place of birth

vIdual applying for a

ot an indi-

repatriation

The Office of Finance

accordingly supplies this information to the Passport Office, and

the Passport Office is able to prepare and post an appropriate

lookout card.

The information supplied to PPT by OF does not,

however, include the date the loan was granted.

It is thus

Impossible at present to determine whether there is an undue delay

In getting the notice of the loan to PPT. Mr. Reeley of ACD/RR

reports that it would be

easy enough to include the date of the

loan in the information supplied. It is recommended that this be

done.

C, Information Concerning Disaffected American Abroad

SCA defines the category of "disaffected Americans abroad"

as including those who have renounced or attempted to renounce

their American citizenship, those who have defected to a Com»

munist-dominated country,

and those who have in any other manner

given evidence of disaffection with or hostility to the United

States.

10

Reporting of Such Cases by Posts Abroad

The Foreign Affairs Manual, apparently contains two reporting

requirements applicable to cases of disaffected Americans abroad.

11 FAM 938, as revised May I5, 1964, which is attached to the

memorandum submitted to the Task Force by INR, dated November 4,

1964, on the subject of "INR/DDC Procedure for the Handling of

Intelligence on Disaffected U.S. Citizens Abroad," reade as

follows:

"938 Federal Bureau of Investigation

"938.1 Disaffection of UoS. Citizens Abroad

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has a continuing interst

in U.S. citizens who travel abroad, particularly to Sino-Soviet-Bloc

countries, or Cuba or Yugoslavia, and who, by their actions and/or

statements while abroad, indicate a disaffection for the United

States •

While the Bureau's responsibilities do not include in-

quiries into the activities of such persons while they are abroad,

it does have an interest in certain of these Individuals when they

return to the U.S.

"938.2 Reporting Requirement

Overseas posts shall submit the following information to the

CONFIDENT TAL

Department by

NW 54653 DooId: 32212672

Page 6

---

## Page 7

CONF IDENT LAL

- 6-

Department by alrgram on U.S.: citizens abroad;

Information concerning U.S, citizens who are approached

by foreign intelligence agencies while abroad;

bo Information on U.S. citizens described in section 938.1

who might constitute a threat to

the internal security. if and when

they return to the U.S.;

Information concerning the return or intent to return to

the U,S, of persons who, by their statements and/or actions while

abroad, indicate:

(1) A desire to renounce U.S. citizenship;

(2)

A desire to seek citizenship in any of the countries

mentioned In section 938.1;

(3) A repudiation of or antipathy for the United States; or

(4) An intent to remain in any of the countries mentioned in

section 938.1 for an extended period because of a preference for

the communist system.!

is amending

The Passport Office, mearwhile, proposes-to-emend, 8 FAM: 225.6,

dealing with "Renunciation of Nationality,

" to include a reporting

requirement to the effect that, when a U.S. citizen has completed

the procedure required to renounce his nationality,

"the officer

executing the oath shall submit a statement that the seriousness.

and consequences of the act were explained to the renunciant before

the oath was administered.

Any pertinent facts or circumstances

having a bearing

on the renunciation and reasons therefore should

also be reported.!

A copy of the text of the proposed amendment

1s attached to this memorandum as Attachment B.

SCA believes that both these reporting requirements are in-

adequate and should be revised, and SCA la taking steps to have

that done in the case of 8 FAM 225.6.

The difficulty with INR's

requirement in 11 FAM 938 1s that It does not cover all disaffected

Americans abroad as such.

"While 938.1 states that the FBI 18

Interested in all such cases, the actual reporting requirement,

embodied in 938.2, 1s applicable to disaffected Americans in only

two circumstances: if they are persons "who might constitute a

threat to the internal

security if and when they return to the

U.S.," and if the

possibility has arisen of their "return or.

Intent to return to the U.s."

SCA believes the reporting requirement

should be applicable to all Americans abroad who fall within 938.1

or, more specifically, within categories (1), (2), (3), or (4)

of 938.2(c), whether or not the reporting officer judges that they

might constitute a threat to the internal security/and when they

* Be no to the

return to the United States, and whether or not they.

have Indicated

an intention to return. It

would seem obvious that comprehensive,

unqualified, and unequivocal requirement of the type suggested is

more consistent with the Task Force's objective of closing all

loopholes than 1s the requirement as presently worded, Moreover,

while the interest

CONF IDENT LAL

NW 54653 DooId: 32212672

Page 7

---

## Page 8

CONE IDENTIAL

-7.

while the interest of the FBI In disaffected Americans abroad may

be limited by the FBI's jurisdiction to the possibility of a threat

to the nation's internal security, this is, not tru of such agencies

as the CIA.

Indeed, Director McCone is said to have testified to

the Warren Commission, in testimony not yet officially released but

leaked to the press, that the CIA is definitely interested in all

reports concerning disaffected Americans abroad, and that it relies

upon the State Department to report such information as it has on

such cases.

So far as SCA is concerned, it might be argued that our

interest is

satisfied by the reporting requirement which becomes

applicable as soon as the "disaffected" citizen indicates an intent

to return to the United States, since he will not be applying for a

passport again until after he does return. But, in the intereat of

closing all loopholes and minimizing the possible effect of human

error, we believe it desirable that a report be required from the

field; so that the Passport Office may post a lookout card and other

appropriate action: may be taken, as soon as it comes to the atten-

tion of a post abroad that, the citizen: is in fact "disaffected."

Also, failure to report at the actual time of "disaffection" may

mean that the citizen's disaffection is unknown to the acting of-

ficials at a time when he subsequently applies for a repatriation

loan; he may, for example, apply for such a loan at a different

post, or to a different official, from the one who originally

became aware of his disaffection.

SCA recommends, then, that the

reporting requirement in 11 FAM 938.2 be expanded to apply when-

ever a U.S. citizen has evidenced "disaffection'' within any of the

categories

of 938.2(c), or in any other way.

There then arises the question of distribution of the informa-

tion on disaffected Americans abroad after it comes in to the De

SCA believes that it should be on distribution for such

material, both for the purpose of having, a lookout card posted in

the Passport Office, and for the purpose of initiating a file in the

Office of Speical Consular Services in case the disaffected person

should subsequently change his mind and apply for a repatriation

loan.

SCA is accordingly concerned that the November 4, 1964

memorandum submitted to the Task Force by INR, and referred to

above, does not indicate

that SCA is included among the "appropriate

offices and

agencies"

that are on distribution for such incoming

information.

With respect to the reporting requirement in 8 FAM 22506, SCA

is similarly concerned that this appears to apply only to an actually

completed renunciation of citizenship. SCA believes that it should

be amended to apply clearly to any attempted renunciation and to any

indication that the person is contemplating or desires to renounce

his citizenship.

(This 'is the language used by PPI in Instruction

"2560.2, the purpose of which is "to establish'

procedures for the pro-

cessing of cases of persone who have renounced United States ne-

tionality or who have expressed a desire

CONFIDENTIAL

NW 54653 DooId: 32212672

Page 8

---

## Page 9

CONFIDENTIAL

- 8÷

desire to renounce such nationality" (italice added) •

2o Receipt and Treatment within SCA of Information on

Disaffected Americans Abroad

As stated in the preceding section, SCA believes that 1t:

should be on distribution for all incoming information as to diss

affected Americans abroad, go that lookout cards may be posted.

in the Passport Office and file Initiated in the Office of Special

Consular Services looking toward a possible application for a

repatriation loan.

With regard to persons who have renounced their citizenship

or indicated an intention of doing so, the Passport Office's pro-

cedure for preparing a lookout card and otherwise processing the

case is governed by Instruction 2560,2, issued by the Office on

November 6, 1964, which ta attached to this memorandum as Attach-

ment C.

In accordance with the remarke made above with respect to

the reporting requirements, SCA belleves that this Inatruction

18 similarly inadequate in scope and is taking steps to have it

reviaed.

It should cover, and should require the preparation

of lookout cards with respect to, not only "persons who have

renounced United

States nationality or who have expressed a de-

sire to renounce such nationlity," but also persons who have become

defectors, or have otherwise indicated disaffection with the. United

States, without formally renouncing their nationality or indicat-

ing any intention to do so. However, with respect to the des

ficiency in the Oswald case of failure to have a lookout card in

the file during the period when Oswald's eitizenship was in doubt,

the Instruction would seem even in its present form to close that

loophole, for it does require the preparation of a card in any

case where an American has renounced his citizenship or attempted

to do so.

The third deficiency, involving the absence of a permanent

lookout card on Oswald as a "defector," has also been remedied.

At the time of the Oswald case the Passport Office did not

main-

tain a separate classification within the lookout file of "de.

fectors."

Now, however, pursuant to direction by the Administra-

Cor of SCA in Ma"defector the Passport OfEtce does keep current

lookout cards

To assure that the file is complete,

the names of all defectors and re-defectors known to the Military

have been obtained and furnished to the Passport Office and are

now covered by lookout cards, as are non-military defectors, and

the Passport Office has been Instructed to keep the cards current

on the basis of information furnished SCA by the military and the

intelligence agencies.

Again, however, It appears that Instruetion

2560.2 1s Inadequate

CONFIDENT LAL

NW 54653 DooId: 32212672

Page 9

---

## Page 10

CONFIDENT IAL

2560.2. Is Inadoquate to cover this function of the Passport

Office, for not only does it not apply to defectors as such, but

it speaks only of "receipt of information from a Foreign Service

post," with no indication that the information may come through

SCA from the military or intelligence agencies • or that it may

come through INR under the expanded reporting requirement of

11 FAM 938 as proposed above.

Finally, it should be noted that, as the Administrator. of

SCA informed

the Secretary on September 28, 1964, dissemination

of information to the intelligence agencies during the period

of the Oswald case -- information on Oswald's

citizenship status,

return to the United States, etc, - was performed by the Passport

Office.

Early in 1963 the Deputy Under Secretary for Administra-

tion and the Administrator, SCA, determined that all liaison with

the intelligence agencies should be conducted through INR. Since

then all information concerning defectors which comes to the atten.

tion of the Passport Office, is brought to the attention of the

Administrator, SCA, whose office forwards

it to the Director of

INR for appropriate dissemination.

II. LAW AND POLICY AS TO EXPATRIATION AND REPATRIATION OF DISAFFECTED

AMERICAN CITIZENS

A. Expatriation

A United States citizen may lose his nationality by perform-

Ing any one of the expatriating acts described in the subsections

to Section 349(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952

(to the extent that these provisions have not been held unconstitu

tional by the Supreme Court). It would appear that only two of

those acts . formal renunciation of nationality under sec. 349(a) (6)

and oath of allegiance to a foreign state under sec. 349(a) (2) ep.

are relevant here, however, for they are the only two that were

even arguably involved in the Oswald case, and they are also the

only two that involve a substantial scope

for interpretation of the

law by the Department.

The second of the two may be disposed of quickly. Sec. 349(a) (2)

states that an American citizen shall lose his nationality by "tak

ing an oath

or making an affirmation or other formal declaration of

allegiance to a foreign state or a political subdivision thereof."

Oswald delivered to the American Embasgy in Moscow on October 31,

1959, a signed statement reading: "I affirm that my allegiance 1s

to the Union of

Soviet Socialist Republics," The Department has

taken the position that this statement and conduct by Oswald did

not have the effect of depriving him of his American nationality

under sec. 349(a) (2) • This determination was based on a number of

cases in which the Department and

other tribunals have consistently

held that:

CONFIDENTIAL

NW 54653 DocId: 32212672

Page 10

---

## Page 11

CONFIDENTIAL

= 10∞0

held that

"for loss of nationality to result from taking an oath

of allegiance to a foreign state, the oath must be one which ts

prescribed by law of by regulations having the force of law'

must be taken before a competent official of the government con

cerned."

(III Hackworth Digest of International Law 218 (1942)•

Also, it has been held that the oath or declaration must place

"the person taking it in complete subjection to the state to which

it is taken, at least for the period of the contract, so that it

1s impossible for him to perform the obligations of citizenship

to this country."

The Department has taken the view that Oswald's statement

could not reasonably be interpreted to have placed him "in complete

subjection to" the U.S.S.R., within the terms of this requirement?

(The legal authorities are set out in full in the Department's

report to the Warren Commission.

That is thus the pertinent law,

and the Department's interpretation of it, with respect to allegi»

ance to a foreign state ag an act of expatriation by a United

States citizen;

SCA has considered whether the Department should

change its policy in favor of a more liberal interpretation which

would find a greater number and variety of acts to meet the statutory

requirement and constitute ac ts of expatriation. It is SCA's

position, however, that in view of the firm line of legal authori-

ties on both the points involved, and in view of the policy con-

sideration that an American citizen should be held to have com

mitted the momentous act of expatriating himself only when there

cannot be the slightest doubt about it, that the interpretations

applied by the Department to the Oswald case were proper ones and

should not be changed:

As to expatriation by renunciation of citizenship,

sec. 349

(a) (6) of the Act provides that an American citizen shall lose his

nationality by "making a formal renunciation of nationality before

a diplomatic or consular officer of the United States in a foreign

state,

State in In such form as may be prescribed by the Secretary of

Current statistics show that in 1962 there were 202 cases of

renunciation of United States nationality abroad under this

statutory provision, that in 1963 there were 254 such cases.

During the first 9 months

of 1964, 212 persons renounced United

State nationality abroad,

In accordance with the statute, the Secretary has set forth

the requisite form and

procedure for renunciation of citizenship,

These regulations are found in Sections 50.1 and 50.2 of Title 22

of the Code of Federal Regulations, and In Section 225.6 of Volume

8 of the Foreign Affairs Manual.

They provide, among other things,

that four

copies of the specified renunciation form are to be

executed, and the original

CONFIDENTIAL

NW 54653 DooId: 32212672

Page 11

---

## Page 12

CONF IDENTIAL

-11=

executed, and the original and one copy sent to the Department;

after the Department has approved the form it advises the appro-

priate consular officer,

who may then furnish

a copy of the form

to the person to whom it relates.

When Oswald appeared at the United States Embassy in Moscow

on. October 31, 1959, he presented a signed handwritten statement

reading in part: "I Lee Harvey Oswald do hereby request that my

present citizenship in"the United States of America be revoked."

The consular official told Oswald that the Embassy was then closed

and that he would have to come back on a later date to complete.

Oswald was subsequently informed in a letter as well that he could

execute the necessary documents at any time when the Embassy was

open, but he never returned to do so, and hence, as the Deparment

determined, and as the Warren Commission apparently agreed, never

actually renounced his cisizenship.

In requiring Oswald to come

back another time,

the consular officer was acting consistently

with the Department's policy that consular officers are to make

every effort to insure that individuals stating a desire to re?

nounce their citizenship are sane and understand the seriousness

and irrevocability of the act. Although this policy was not set

forth in regulations at the time, it was embodied in the instruc-

tions generally given to foreign service personnel in orientation

courses. In accordance with this policy, it was common practice

to delay accepting renunciation declarations in order to insure

that the individualwas not acting on a sudden impulse which he would.

later regret.

As a result of the Oswald case,

the Department's policy govern

ing the manner in which consular officers should treat would-be

renunciants of U.S. citizenship has now been put in the form of

a written regulation.

Section 225.6 of the Foreign Affairs Manual

has been sevisedly the Passport Office and the revision, cleared

by SEA is presently being printed for distrubtion. A copy of the

text of the revision is attached to this memorandum as Attachtment

B. In pertinent part, the revision reads as follows: "The officer

Initially must verify whether a would-be renunciant does possess the

United States nationality which he seeks to surrender. He then

shall explain the irretrievable seriousness of the act contemplated,

and the procedure prescribed under Section 349(a) (6) for making a

formal renunciation of the nationality.

In suitable cases the

officer may suggest to the person that he defer the act of renuncia-

tion for a period to permit further reflection on the gravity and

consequences of his contemplated act.

In no case, however, shall

an American

citizen

be denied the right to take the oath of re-

nunciation."

This language

CONFIDENTIAL

NW 54653 DocId: 32212672

Page 12

---

## Page 13

CONF IDENTIAL

→120

This language reflects SCA's position as to what the Depart-

ment's policy should be with regard to the handling of would-be

renunciants. SCA has considered whether this policy should be

changed, and whether

the elements of the policy which might tend

to discourage the renunciation should be removed. SCA adheres to

the view that these elements should not be removed - that it is

the duty of the Department In its service to American citizens to

make sure that a citizen intending to renounce his nationality is

aware of the serious and Irrevocable nature of his act and has

considered it as fully as possible.

Repatriation of Defectors and Other Disaffected Americans

Who Are Still American Citizens

If an American, though he has defected or otherwise evidenced

dissaffection with his country, has not renounced or otherwise lost

his United States citizenship, there is no legal basis for prevent-

ing him from returning to the United States. if he so desires..

There are, however, means by which the Department often has the

ability to encourage or discourage such return,

The principal

means is the granting of denial of a repatriation loan, such

as was granted to and subsequently repaid by Lee Harvey Oswald.

I. Repatriation Loans

a) Statutory Authority

The statutory authority for repatriation loans is found in

5 U.S.C. 170 which authorizes the Secretary of State to:

"(a) make expenditures, from such amounts as may be speci-

fically appropriated

therefor,

for unforseen

emergencies aris

ing in the diplomatic, and consular service and, to the extent

authorized in appropriation Acts, funds expended for such pur

pose may be accounted for in accordance with section 107 of

Title 31 a • 09

Since 1947 the Department of State's annual Appropriation Act

has included a sum "for expenses necessary to enable the Secretary

unforseen emergencies arising inthe Diplomatic

and Consular Service, to be expended pursuant to the requirement of

Section 291 of the Revised Statute (31 U.S.C. 107)." In recent

years, the accompanying House Reports state that:

"These funds are used for relief and repatriation loans to

Mattad States citizens abroad and for other emergencies of

CONFIDENTIAL

NW 54653 DooId: 32212672

Page 13

---

## Page 14

CONF IDENTIAL

- 13-

For fiscal years 1962 and 1963, Congress appropriated

$1,500,000 for these purposes.

Between 1953 and 1952 the sum

appropriated annually for these purposes had been $1,000,000g

From these amounts the Secretary of State has annually allotted

approximately $100,000 to meet the expenses

of repatriation of

indigent United States nationals who request repatriation loans,

b) Regulations Governing Procedure

Under the Department's regulations, repatriation loans to!

destitute United States nationals are authorized by the Depart

ment only when:

"a.

Investigation shows that the United States national

will suffer undue hardship if he does not return to the United

States, that he is without relatives or friends either abroad

or in the United States who are able and willing to assist

him financially, and that he is unable, through employment

or otherwise, tdobtain funds for support or for return pass-

age (an initial telegram may be sent to relatives or friends

in the United States through the Department at Government

expense); or

"bo.

The United States national is in or is the cause of

a situation which is damaging to the prestige of the United

States Government or which constitutes a compelling reason for

extending assistance to effect his return."

(7 FAM 423. 1-2).

The Department considered that Oswald's continued presence in

Russia was damaging to the prestige of the United States because

of his unstable character and prior criticisms of the United States,

The provisions of subsection "b" were, therefore, applicable..

The

Department sought, however, In accordance with subsection "a," to

obtain funds for the Oswalds' repatriation from both Oswald's

mother and from the International Rescue Committee. Neither effort

was successful.

These regulations further provide that repatriation loans may

be granted only to United States nationals:

"a. Who are in complete and unquestioned possession of

their citizenship rights;

"b. Who are entitled to receive United States passporte;

"co

Whose loyalty to the United States Government 18

apply "question, or to whom the provisions af section 42301-2(6))

("The United States national is in or is the cause

of a situation which is damaging to the prestige of the United

States Government or which constitutes a compelling reason

for extending

CONFIDENTIAL

NW 54653 DocId: 32212672

Page 14

---

## Page 15

CONFIDENTIAL

- 140

for extending assistance to affect his return.") (7 FAM

Oswald met the requirements of subsectiong "a" and "b."

As for subsection "c,

" the provisions of Section 423.1-2(b).

applied, as noted above.

The Department's regulations provide that all repatriation

loans must be approved by the Department (7 FAM 423.3-1), and that

prior to approval of any loan the Department will first endeavor

to obtain funds from the individual's family or other private

sources.

(7 FAM 42303-2)

Both of these requirements were met

in the Oswald case.

Loans are limited:

"to the minimum amount required to cover transportation and

subsistence while en route to the nearest continental United

States port . . ... The cost of transportation shall be

limited to third-class passage by ship; loans shall not be

granted to cover travel by air except:

"a.

In cases of emergency; or

11b°

When no other means of transportation by surface

route added to unavoidable expenditures while awaiting

barkation exceeds the cost of air travel."'

. (7 FAM 423.3=3)

Oswald's loan was sufficient to cover only the least expen-

sive transportation from Moscow to New York.

Repatriation loans are also authorized (and were granted in

the Oswald case) for the alien wife and children

of a United

States national receiving a repatration loan, in order to avoid

division of families.. (7 FAM 423.3-5)

Each applicant for a repatriation loan is required to sign

an application setting forth his name and date and place of birth

and other information.

Oswald was also required to sign the following affirmation:

"I solemnly declare that I am a loyal United States

national, that I have not lost my citizenship and that all the.

statements in this application are true. I hereby apply for

a loan of the United States Government funds for repatriation

for myself and my dependents herein named. I promise to repay

all funds that may be advanced to me, and to keep all funds

that may be advanced to me, and to keep the Department of

State, Washington, D, C., informed of my address after my

arrival in the United States until such time as the loan is

repaid in full."

The current form of this affirmation states in addition that the

applicant is destitute

CONFIDENTIAL

14 54653

DocId: 32212672

Page 15

---

## Page 16

CONF IDENTIAL

-15-

applicant is destitute and will not be furnished a passport

until his loan is repaid. (7 FAM 423.5-2)

Each recipient of a repatriation loan is required to sign a

promissory note by which he promises to repay without interest,

to the Ireasurer of the United States, upon demand, the amount of

his repatriation loan.

The note also states;

"I further understand

and

agree that after my repatriation

I will not be furnished a pssport for travel abroad until my

obligation to reimburse the Treasurer of the United States

19 liquidated." (7 FAM 423.6-5).

All passports of persons receiving repatriation loans are

required to be stamped

as valid only for return to the United

States. (7 FAM 423.7-1)

c) General Procedures

United States nationals such as Oswald who KaKasst request

repatriation

assistance abroad apply for such asistance to con-

sular officers at American Embassies or Consulates.

A consular

officer interviews each applicant to insure that the applicant is

a United States citizen and is destitute.

The applicant must exe-

cute the application form referred to above before the consular.

officer.

The original application is then normally forwarded to

the Department by pouch

and is processed by the Office of Special

Consular Services (SCS) in the Bureau of Security and Consular

Affairs (SCA). The Department may authorize a loan in advance of

receipt of the executed application form, as in the Oswald case,

when the facts are already known to

the Department,

Each case is reviewed in the Protection and Welfare Division

of SCS to insure compliance with the regulations referred to above

and determine whether funds are available from any other sources,

such as relatives, friends, employers, or other interested organt

zations.

In cases in which political questions are involved, such as

when a foreign government has requested the removal of the appli-

cant, and in all cases such as Oswald's which involve repatriation

from the U.S.S.R. or Bloc countries, clearance by the political

desk involved is obtained.

In the Oswald case, the Office of Soviet

Affairs supported the grant of a loan.

If funds are not available from other sources, the. Depatment

acts on the application for the repatriation loan, and informs any

other agency which may be concerned or have evidenced insterest.

In the Oswald case, the Depactment Informed the fBI on March 27,

1962, that Oswald had applied for a repatriation loan and that the

loan had been authorized.:

When a post

CONFIDENTIAL

NW 54653 DocId: 32212672

Page 16

---

## Page 17

CONFIDENTIAL

-16-

When a post receives approval of a loan, it obtains i promis

sory note from the applicant in the form referred to above and

makes the funds or transportation tickets available. The promisssory

note is sent by the post to the Department for collection.

The

Department's Office of Finance thereafter undertakes to obtain

repayment of the loan.

These procedures were followed in the

Oswald case.

d) Changes Since the Oswald Case

So far as the dissemination of information on the issuance of

a repatriation loan is concerned, the procedures currently being

observed by SCA are described in Part I of this memorandum.

With respect to the policy question of whether and under what

circumstances repatriation loans to "disaffected" or "previously

disaffected" Americans should be granted, the regulations quoted

above from 7 FAM 423 1-2 and 423.2-1 remain in effect.

That 1s, a

loan may be granted. only if the recipient is unquestionably loyal

to the United States or "is in or is the cause of a situation which

is damaging to the prestige of the United States Government of

which constitutes a

compelling reason for extending assistance to

effect his return.". These regulations, of course, only authorize

the granting of a loan when the specified conditions are met; they

do not require it. Thus the question of whether to grant the loan

in

a particular case remains.

The Department, through SCA, has recently taken two steps.

in

the direction of a stricter policy on repatriation loans to de-

fectors and the like, of at least in the direction of a more care-

ful examination of each case.

Even before the assassination, in

August of 1963, the Administrator of SCA decided, with the approval

of the Secretary, that the Department would not grant repatriation

loans to any turncoats coming out of Communist China. The policy

is still undetermined, however, with respect to persons other than

turncoats who have voluntarily resided in Communist China or in

other Communist-dominated areas to which travel of United States

citizens is restricted, and with respect to persons like Oswald,

who have defected to Communist-dominated countries or have other-

wise evidenced disaffection with the United States.

In June of

1964, the Administrator of SCA directed that no repatriation loans

were to be made to

any individual being repatriated from any

Communist-dominated country without the express approval of the

Administrator of Deputy Adminiatrator of SCA.

SCA has considered whether the policy on repatrlation loans

should be laid out more explicitly than it is

at present.

SCA

belleves, however, that it la better towait for a specific case

to arise, and perhaps even then to decide the case on an ad hoc

basis, than it would be to formulate in the abstract a policy!

designed to

CONFIDENTIAL

54653 DocId: 32212672

Page 17

---

## Page 18

CONFIDENTIAL

-17.-

designed to determine any case that might come up.

2. Other Means of Encouragement or Discouragement

The granting of denying of a repatriation loan is not the only

means of encouraging or discouraging a disaffected American to

return to this country.

The Department might direct its consular

officials to attempt oral persuasion one way of the other, and it

might, in order to encourage the person's return, give him some sort

of guarantee that he would not be prosecuted in this country for

any crimes that he may have committed by his defection or other

conduct. Such a guarantee could presumably be implemented by ask-

ing the

Justice Department not to prosecute. Oswald in fact asked

,for such assurance from the consular officer in Moscow, but did

not receive it.

SCA beljeves that the status quoi should be left undisturbed

so far as this aspect of the problem is concerned.

Consular officers

at present have no authority to promise immunity from prosecution,

and they should have none.

A defector who is willing to return to

this country only if given such a guarantee is probably not one

whose return the Department wants to encourage; moreover, it does

not appear that the Department has a sound legal basis for offering

such guarantees, and furthermore they would, as a matter of policy,

have the undesirablé

effect of possibly encouraging defection..' In

general, SCA believes that consular officers should not be instructed

either

to encourage or discourage the return of disaffected

persons,

except by such authorized means

as the granting or denial of repatria-

tion loans.

C. Repatriation of Persons Who Have Renounced or Otherwise Lost

Their American Citizenship

A final policy question that might arise concerns the case of

a

"disaffected" person who has renounced or otherwise lost his

American citizenship but who wishes to return to this country as an

alien. Such a person would not be entitled to a repatriation loan,

and his admissibility would be governed by the alien-exclusion pro-

visions of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. His former

Communist inclination might well make him ineligible for admission

under sec. 212(a) (28) of the Act, and the Department could then decide

whether to recommend to the Attorney General that such ineligibility

be O waived 'under sec. 212(d) (3).. In any event, he could be excluded

on the basis of a finding that his presence here "would be prejucicial.

co che public interest, or endanger the welfare, safety, or security

of the United States,"

under 212(a) (27), or that he would probably

engage in espionage of other subversive activities, under 212(a) (29) •

COnFIDENTIAL

NW 54653 DocId: 32212672

Page 18

---