Americanization; Civics; Immigrants -- United States; Naturalization -- United States; Noncitizens -- United States
It is impossible at this time to say, or even to estimate with
any degree of confidence, how many of the aliens, thus hurriedly
naturalized, actually saw the battle lines in Europe, or even endured
the perils by sea involved in transport to the other side. A large
number of them never got farther from home than the army camp to
which they were first sent. No statistics on this subject have as yet
been collated, or perhaps ever will be. It is the impression of the
Naturalization Service, doubtless justified by the fact, that the
majority of the foreign-born soldiers thus naturalized at the camps
actually did get overseas, even though the armistice prevented their
ever further imperiling their lives for the country and flag to which
they had thus twice sworn allegiance. The main reason for the haste
was, as the Commissioner says, to finish the naturalization of the
alien members of units in time for embarkation. The courts engaged in
this work at the large encampments, and particularly at the points of
rendezvous for embarkation, worked overtime. Eight courts were used
at Newport News alone. Every effort was bent to catch the men before
they went overseas; in many cases aliens thrown into casual units
were quickly naturalized for the special purpose of permitting them
to catch up with their own organizations.
“Enemy aliens,” as a rule, were handled separately. In one “job,”
855 Serbs and Rumanians from Transylvania, which was then a part of
Austria-Hungary, were turned in a trice into full-fledged American
citizens.
Many got away without being naturalized, but made up for it when they
came home again, not a few with wound stripes to reinforce their
title to the new privilege. There were naturalizations even in the
hospitals, where men in beds raised their right hands to take the
oath of allegiance. Little doubt about _their_ knowing what they were
doing.
On the other hand, undoubtedly there were many who did not at all
understand. At one of the large hearings at one of the far Western
camps surreptitiously brought their certificates of naturalization to
two women investigators for one of the Government War organizations,
and wanted to know what they meant.
“Would you be so good as to tell us what these papers are?” they
said. “We got some papers before, and had to go to court as
witnesses. We had a great deal of trouble. We would like to know if
these papers will get us into more trouble.”
STATISTICS OF ALIEN REGISTRATION
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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