Letter from Dr. Alfred E. Stearns to C.S. Crosby, September 20, 1923
Dublin Core
Title
Letter from Dr. Alfred E. Stearns to C.S. Crosby, September 20, 1923
Subject
Letter from Dr. Alfred E. Stearns to C.S. Crosby, September 20, 1923
Description
Typed letter from Dr. Alfred E. Stearns to C.S. Crosby, immigration inspector, inquiring, in response to the detention of Mr. Chan, how Chinese students studying in America are expected to meet all legal requirements and hold in possession all legal documents when their passports are often taken from them upon entering the country. Stearns wishes to take the matter up in Washington should it continue to occur.
Transcription
September 20, 1923
Mr. C.S.Crosby
Inspector of Immigration
North Stratford, N.E.
My dear Sir:
Thank you for your very courteous letter of September 17. Please that I have no intention whatever of criticizing you personally for your actions in connection with the detention of Mr. Chan. As I endeavored to make clear, I believed at the time, and still believe that you were doing exactly what you felt it was year duty to do under the circumstances and this belief was prompted by the exceedingly courteous way in which you dealt with the boy and with me at the time.
What I cannot understand is how there Chinese students in the country, who are here legitimately and have complied with all the requirements of the law, are expected to act when, as in the cases of a number of them at least, the passports have been taken from them by the immigration inspectors when they first landed. I have dealt with these boys now for many years and have had something like one hundred of them as my personal wards over a period of twenty-five years duration. For nearly twenty years some of those boys have been with me almost annually at my camp at Connecticut lake. They have traveled all over the country without interference up to this time. I cannot help wondering, therefore, just what is expected of them by the United States authorities or whether, granting that the passports had been taken heretofore in a legitimate way, they should be expected to furnish official credentials which they cannot necessarily possess.
My purpose in taking the matter up at headquarters in Washington should not in any sense reflect on your action in the case. I am merely seeking information which I evidently did not possess and by which these boys may be spared further and embarrassing annoyances in the future. I think you will agree what this is a perfectly proper position for me to take.
Thank you for returning Chan’s certificate which arrived safely.
Very sincerely yours.
Mr. C.S.Crosby
Inspector of Immigration
North Stratford, N.E.
My dear Sir:
Thank you for your very courteous letter of September 17. Please that I have no intention whatever of criticizing you personally for your actions in connection with the detention of Mr. Chan. As I endeavored to make clear, I believed at the time, and still believe that you were doing exactly what you felt it was year duty to do under the circumstances and this belief was prompted by the exceedingly courteous way in which you dealt with the boy and with me at the time.
What I cannot understand is how there Chinese students in the country, who are here legitimately and have complied with all the requirements of the law, are expected to act when, as in the cases of a number of them at least, the passports have been taken from them by the immigration inspectors when they first landed. I have dealt with these boys now for many years and have had something like one hundred of them as my personal wards over a period of twenty-five years duration. For nearly twenty years some of those boys have been with me almost annually at my camp at Connecticut lake. They have traveled all over the country without interference up to this time. I cannot help wondering, therefore, just what is expected of them by the United States authorities or whether, granting that the passports had been taken heretofore in a legitimate way, they should be expected to furnish official credentials which they cannot necessarily possess.
My purpose in taking the matter up at headquarters in Washington should not in any sense reflect on your action in the case. I am merely seeking information which I evidently did not possess and by which these boys may be spared further and embarrassing annoyances in the future. I think you will agree what this is a perfectly proper position for me to take.
Thank you for returning Chan’s certificate which arrived safely.
Very sincerely yours.
Creator
Dr. Alfred E. Stearns
Publisher
Phillips Academy
Date
September 20, 1923
Rights
All Rights Reserved By Phillips Academy
Language
English
Type
Correspondence