IMMIGRATION: Open Jails

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"Open Jails" The seriousness of the situation which has arisen because of the increased smuggling of aliens into the U. S. has aroused the Government to take harsher repressive measures. It is estimated by some that the number of smuggled immigrants is almost, if not quite, equal to the number of immigrants who enter by legal channels.

Recently, 31 Italians (male) were captured on Long Island, were charged with entering the country illegally. They were taken to Ellis Island on a deportation order, but the Government changed its mind. Handcuffed together, they were taken to a jail in Brooklyn and held in $10,000 bail each. The usual bail is $500. They and the two men charged with smuggling them in are to be prosecuted under the Immigration Act and the Passport Act. These provide, in case of conviction, for an extreme penalty of 20 years in jail, $10,000 fine and deportation when the sentence is completed. The Italians vary in age from 17 to 57 years.

It is believed that only by such measures can foreigners be convinced that it does not pay to try to enter this country by the smugglers' route. H. H. Curran, Immigration Commissioner at Ellis Island, issued a new watchword: "Open arms for honorable applicants for admission to this country; open jails for dishonorable, smuggled aliens."