lation of the charge against the young woman-you will note that she was arrested because she attempted to shield a friend who stole a pair of second-hand shoes in 1946. While I certainly do not condone such actions, yet I do not feel that the nature of the offense is such that she should be denied permission to come to this country to join her husband, an American citizen, and their baby who recently was brought to this country. Mr. LaMontagne was married to his wife while serving in Germany with the Armed Forces. The documents referred to in Congressman Riehlman's statement read as follows: Hon. R. WALTER RIEHLMAN, THE FOREIGN SERVICE OF THE House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR MR. RIEHLMAN: I have received your letter of January 15, 1953, and note therefrom that you have been approached by the American husband of Mrs. Waltraut La Montagne for the purpose of introducing special legislation in her behalf, which would assist her in entering the United States for permanent residence. You request a full report regarding the background of her case for this purpose. I find that we had to refuse a visa to Mrs. La Montagne on June 30, 1952, as a person who was, on May 5, 1949, convicted of being an accessory after the fact in the case of theft. It will be noted from the enclosed translation of an alleged court record, which was supplied the consulate general by Mrs. La Montagne's lawyer, that she was implicated as an accessory in connection with the theft of a pair of shoes by her girl friend. Of course, as you are aware, an alien who has been convicted of being an accessory after the fact in the case of theft fell under the excluding provisions of section 3 of the Immigration Act of 1917, as amended, as a person who had been convicted of committing a crime or misdemeanor involving moral turpitude. You are, of course, likewise aware that this same excluding provision of law has been incorporated in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 under section 212 (a) (9). Sincerely yours, PAUL H. PEARSON, American Consul. JUDGMENT OF THE LOWER Court StadthaGEN, DATED MAY 5, 1949 IN THE PROCEEDINGS AGAINST WALTRAUT BENTELER, BORN JUNE 2, 1927, IN GELSENKIRCHEN Because of accessory after the fact Sentence The defendant is sentenced for accessory after the fact to payment of a fine of DM 25 in lieu of 5 days' imprisonment, plus the costs of the proceedings. Reasoning The defendant was riding from Gelsenkirchen via Minden to Stadthagen at the beginning of July 1946 with Irmgard Hantke, who in the meantime received a valid sentence for theft. In Stadthagen Irmgard Hantke stole a pair of shoes from the shoemaker Gravenkamp. Both girls then went to a movie theater, which they wished to see. Here Irmgard Hantke noticed that her purse was missing. Assuming that she had left this purse at the shoemaker she returned to him and meanwhile gave the defendant both her bags. The defendant who did not have sufficient money for two movie tickets searched the bags for money and thereby noticed that there was a pair of shoes in one of the bags which did not belong to Irmgard Hantke. Shortly afterwards she saw Hantke returning to the movie theater with a policeman, so she entered the movie theater, took the shoes out of the bag, and left them in the ladies' restroom so as to prevent Hantke from being arrested for theft. When the defendant was arrested she admitted where the shoes were. The shoes were returned to the shoemaker Gravenkamp. On the basis of the state of the case, which is proved by the authentic confession fthe defendant, it was stipulated that on July 6, 1946, in Stadthagen the defendnt knowingly assisted Hantke after said Hantke had committed an offense of heft by hiding the shoes that Hantke had stolen so as to prevent Hantke from eing punished and to secure the advantages of the theft for Hantke. Offense ccording to section 257 GCC. The defendant is guilty of accessory after the fact and punishable. Considertion was given to the fact that the defendant has not been punished before and at she only committed the offense to help her friend. A prison term of 5 days ems a sufficient atonement. The court is of the opinion that payment of a ne is a sufficient high penalty, therefore she was sentenced to payment of a fine DM 25 in lieu of 5 days' imprisonment. Costs will be settled according to section 465 STPO. The committee, after consideration of all the facts in the case, is of he opinion that the bill (H. R. 3142) should be enacted. JULY 30 (legislative day, JULY 27), 1953.-Ordered to be printed Mr. LANGER, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 3223] The Committee on the Judiciary, to which was referred the bill (H. R. 3223) for the relief of Gisela Korb (nee Unruh), having considered the same, reports favorably thereon, without amendment, and recommends that the bill do pass. PURPOSE OF THE BILL The purpose of the bill is to waive the excluding provision of the immigration laws relating to the conviction of a crime involving moral turpitude in behalf of the wife of an honorably discharged citizen veteran. STATEMENT OF FACTS The beneficiary of the bill is a 23-year-old native and citizen of Germany who was married on January 11, 1952, to Pvt. Charles J. Korb, who was in Germany with our Armed Forces. They have one citizen child born on July 29, 1952. The beneficiary of the bill was convicted of theft on April 26, 1951. Without the waiver provided for in the bill the beneficiary will be unable to accompany her citizen child to this country to join her husband. Congressman James A. Byrne, the author of the bill, appeared before a subcommittee of the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and made the following statement: STATEMENT OF RepresentaTIVE JAMES A. BYRNE BEFORE SUBCOMMITTEE No. 1, HOUSE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, JUNE 15, 1953 I am pleased that the subcommittee has arranged an early hearing on H. R. 3223 which I have introduced for the purpose of bringing together a little family in my district. The bill, if enacted, would admit Mrs. Gisela Korb to our country for permanent residence and permit her to experience the freedom which we have always enjoyed here. This girl's husband, Charles J. Korb, is with us in the committee room today and I share his anxiety over the consideration of this bill. He was married in January 1952 while he was serving with the United States Army in Germany, and their child, a little girl whom he hasn't seen, was born later that same year at the 97th General Hospital in Frankfort. We have the full story here in the files as to the unsatisfactory life Mrs. Korb has had to lead in the past several years. Both her parents are dead; her mother was killed in s bombing raid and her father died after an operation. She is only 23 years of age now, and when she was only 16 she had to go to the Russian Zone of Germany and was required to work at hard labor in the coal mines for 3 years, after which she escaped to the Western Zone and engaged in Red Cross work at Frankfort. About a year before her marriage, Mrs. Korb resided for a time with a German family, I believe in the United States Zone, and, to her sorrow, she early realized that these people had very loose morals and made life very miserable for her. She decided to leave that house, and did so, taking with her a very cheap suitcase belonging to the family, together with whatever clothes she had. Some of the German family went to the police and reported a theft by Mrs. Korb, adding to the old suitcase a comb, some handkerchiefs, and a lady's shirt. These latter items Mrs. Korb maintains she did not take from those people; the articles in the suitcase, I understand, were hers. However, Mrs. Korb was convicted of the theft of the suitcase, the comb, etc. (which were valued at 50 deutschemarks-United States equivalent $11.93), and served 3 weeks in prison. We have in the files a translation of the court order in this case. Now this is petty dealing and Mrs. Korb's so-called crime involved a very short sentence, and under our present immigration laws she would be deemed ineligible for admission into the United States, but I am glad that the members of this committee have recognized the fact that there are many cases where we can offer shelter and protection to individuals who would otherwise be inadmissible. Mrs. Korb will, I feel certain, prove to be a good citizen of our country if we can enact the necessary legislation to give her this chance. I want to have a part in giving her an opportunity to live a normal American life and let her know and understand freedom as only we in this country know it. I hope sincerely that you will report H. R. 3223 favorably and that the full committee will take similar action. In addition, Congressman Byrne submitted the following documents in support of the bill: THE FOREIGN SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Hon. JAMES A. BYRNE, House of Representatives. MY DEAR MR. BYRNE: I acknowledge the receipt of your letter of March 23, 1953, addressed to Mr. Albert M. Doyle, the former consul general at this office, with regard to Mrs. Gisela Korb in whose behalf you have introduced a private bill. With regard to your request for information as to whether there is anything or record against Mrs. Korb, who is the beneficiary of an approved petition executed by her husband, Mr. Charles J. Korb, granting her nonquota status as the alle wife of an American citizen, you are advised that the visa files of this office revea that security investigations in Mrs. Korb's connection disclosed that on April 20, 1951, she was convicted of theft by the Amtsgericht (district court) at Frankfort on the Main under paragraph 242 of the German Penal Code. Since theft has been held to be a crime involving moral turpitude, she is inadmissible to the United States under section 212 (a) (9) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The records available to the consulate general at this time do not reveal the character of the theft. We are therefore requesting the details of the case from the competent court and will write to you again as soon as we have received them. Sincerely yours, C. MONTAGU PIGOTT, |