0300-411409
Decided by the Board April 27, 1953
Public Charge — Within 5 years of entry — Section 19 of the Immigration Act of 1917 — Deportability when admitted under the War Brides Act, Public law 271.
Nonpayment for hospitalization at public expense resulting from a mental disability which existed at the time of entry and which was specifically waived by the provisions of the act of December 28, 1945 ( 59 Stat. 659, Public Law 271, 79th Cong., 1st sess.), under which the alien was admitted for permanent residence does not render her deportable under section 19 of the Immigration Act of 1917 as a person who became a public charge within 5 years after entry from causes not affirmatively shown to have arisen subsequent thereto.
CHARGES:
Warrant: Act of 1917 — Mental defective at the time of entry.
Act of 1917 — Became a public charge.
BEFORE THE BOARD
Discussion: The case comes forward on appeal from the order dated November 5, 1952, of the hearing officer finding the respondent subject to deportation solely on the ground that she became a public charge within 5 years after entry into the United States from causes not affirmatively shown to have arisen subsequent thereto.
The record relates to a native of Poland, formerly Germany, last a citizen of Bulgaria through a prior marriage, presently stateless, 29 years old, female, who last entered the United States at the Port of New York on December 15, 1948, by plane. At the time of her entry respondent was admitted for permanent residence under the provisions of the act approved December 28, 1945 ( 59 Stat. 659; Public Law 271, 79th Cong. 1st sess.), which provides as follows:
That notwithstanding any of the several clauses of section 3 of the Act of February 5, 1917, excluding physically and mentally defective aliens, * * * alien spouses or alien children of United States citizens serving in, or having an honorable discharge certificate from the Armed Forces of the United States during the Second World War shall, if otherwise admissible under the immigration laws, and if application for admission is made within three years of the effective date of this Act, be admitted to the United States: Provided, That every alien of the foregoing description shall be medically examined at the time of arrival in accordance with the provisions of section 16 of the Act of February 5, 1917, and if found suffering from any disability which would be the basis for a ground of exclusion except for the provision of this Act, the Immigration and Naturalization Service shall forthwith notify the appropriate public medical officer of the local community to which the alien is destined * * *.
The record establishes that the respondent was admitted to Bellevue Hospital, New York City, for a mental disability on October 2, 1951, and was transferred to Pilgrim State Hospital, West Brentwood, Long Island, N.Y., on October 18, 1951. Diagnosis at the latter institution was dementia praecox, catatonic type with symptoms of disturbed behavior and hallucinations. She was released from Pilgrim State Hospital on July 20, 1952, on convalescent status. The costs of her confinement in the latter institution amounted to $85 per month and despite a demand for payment of hospitalization made on respondent on February 14, 1952, no payments have been made. A certificate dated July 23, 1952, signed by two psychiatrists of the United States Public Health Service sets forth that in their opinion the respondent was certifiable for a class A mental defect at time of entry and that the alien's becoming a public charge was due to a class A condition, namely, schizophrenia, catatonic type, which has not affirmatively been shown to have arisen after entry into the United States.
The hearing officer has correctly found that in view of the provisions of the act of December 28, 1945, exempting alien spouses of members of the Armed Forces during the Second World War from the excluding provisions of section 3 of the act of February 5, 1917, relating to mentally defective aliens the first charge appearing in the warrant of arrest is not sustained. However, he has sustained the second ground of deportability stated in the warrant of arrest. It is to be noted that the cause for the respondent's hospitalization at public expense was a mental condition which is stated to have existed at time of entry and which would not have in itself been a cause for exclusion at time of entry under the law under which respondent was admitted into the United States. This appears to be a somewhat inconsistent result, inasmuch as the act approved December 28, 1945, and popularly known as the War Brides Act, makes provisions for the Immigration and Naturalization Service to forthwith notify the appropriate public medical officer of the local community to which the alien is destined. The very wording of the statute would seem to contemplate a need for hospitalization in some cases, possibly at public expense.
In enacting the War Brides Act, Congress sought to aid and expedite the uniting of the serviceman and the family he had acquired by marriage while stationed abroad. In connection with this bill, Congressman Lesinski stated:
Mr. Speaker, the purpose of this bill is to cut the red tape surrounding the law as it is today and expedite the admission of thousands of alien brides who were married to our soldiers while the latter were serving abroad in the Armed Forces of the United States during the second world war * * *. This bill provides that these alien relatives shall not be excluded from admission to the United States if they are found to be afflicted with physical or mental defects which would serve to debar them from permanent admission to the United States under the mandatory provisions of the law. That means you might have a case of a wife with a tubercular spot on her lungs. That wife does not waive examination on the other side, but is examined by immigration health officers and report made to board of health in locality wherever she goes and is supposed to be taken care of on this side.
It would hardly be consistent with the beneficient, altruistic, salutary and benevolent purpose of this statute as disclosed by its wording and the legislative history to hold by indirection that a wife of a citizen veteran is deportable for a mental defect or disability for which she could not have been barred at the time of her entry. It would appear to be incongruous to arrive at a conclusion that this respondent is deportable on the basis of hospitalization resulting from a mental disability which has been specifically waived by statute. We therefore conclude that the second charge stated in the warrant of arrest is not sustained by the evidence. Accordingly, we shall terminate the proceedings.
Order: It is ordered that the proceedings be terminated.