Congressman Kenneth B. Keating, 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 Kenneth B. Keating re H. R. 779, for the RELIEF OF IDA BAGHDASSARIAN Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, in addition to the facts contained in the report from the Immigration and Naturalization Service regarding this case, my file contains letters from many reputable persons who have contacted me in Miss Baghdassarian's behalf. Among those who have written me are persons who have been under Miss Baghdassarian's nursing care, personal friends and acquaintances, the dean of the School of Liberal and Applied Arts, University of Rochester, the director of nursing at Genesee Hospital, Rochester, and doctors who have become acquainted with her through her profession. All attest to her ability as a nurse, her deep religious convictions, and her excellent character; all express the opinion that she would be an asset to our country if allowed to remain here. My file indicates that Miss Baghdassarian was advised sometime ago by a lawyer to marry an American citizen and then if she wished, she could dissolve the marriage. A letter which I received from a prominent Rochester physician contains the statement: "This was far below Ida's concept of honesty and morality, and she speaks of it as repulsive and impossible." The report from the Immigration and Naturalization Service makes no mention of one of the main reasons for Miss Baghdassarian's first entering the United States. The following is quoted from a letter dated December 1, 1951, which I received from Miss Blanche K. Gardner, 63 Park Avenue, Brockport, N. .Y: **** My sister, Chastina Gardner, a Government worker in Washington, contributed through the Business Women's Council to a school organized for the Armenian orphans after the (Turkish) massacre and thereby began a correspondence with Ida when she was a little girl and there developed a deep friendship between them in letters and gifts through the years as Ida went through high school and then finished a nursing course at Beirut. "My sister retired from Government service and came home here and when she became a helpless invalid, I asked Ida to come to help care for her. To come quickly she came on a student visa and so has been a student instead of a nurse. There are other letters in my file from members of the Gardner family who evidently were very well satisfied with the care Miss Baghdassarian gave their relative. From all that I have been able to learn, it is my belief that this is a very meritorious case and I request the committee's favorable consideration of H. R. 779. The committee, after consideration of all the facts in the case, is of the opinion that the bill (H. R. 779) should be enacted. JULY 14 (legislative day, JULY 6), 1953.—Ordered to be printed Mr. LANGER, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 781] The Committee on the Judiciary, to which was referred the bill H. R. 781) for the relief of Johanna C. Willemsen, 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 grant the status of permanent residence in the United States to Johanna C. Willemsen. The bill provides for an appropriate quota deduction and for the payment of the required visa fee. STATEMENT OF FACTS The beneficiary of the bill is a 76-year-old native and citizen of the Netherlands who last entered the United States as a visitor on December 19, 1948. She lives with her daughter, Mrs. Franz DeRoov, and two grandchildren, all of whom have been admitted to the United States for permanent residence. A letter dated January 13, 1950, to the then chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives from the Assistant to the Attorney General with reference to H. R. 6154, which was a bill then pending for the relief of the same alien, reads as follows: DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL, Hon. EMANUEL CELLER, Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in response to your request for the views of the Department of Justice relative to the bill (H. R. 6154) for the relief of Johanna C. Willemsen, an alien. S. Repts.. 83-1, vol. 3-7 The bill would direct the Attorney General to record the lawful admission to the United States for permanent residence of Johanna C. Willemsen and would direct the Secretary of State to reduce by one the appropriate immigration quota. The files of the Immigration and Naturalization Service of this Department disclose that Johanna C. Willemsen is a native and citizen of the Netherlands, having been born in Groede, Holland, on November 27, 1876. She entered the United States at the port of New York as a passenger on the steamship Nieu Amsterdam on December 19, 1948, when she was admitted under section 3 (2) of the Immigration Act of 1924, as a temporary visitor. Her application for an extension of her temporary stay was denied and she was given until November 15, 1949, within which to depart. Proceedings to enforce her departure, however, were ordered held in abeyance pending consideration of this bill. The The files further reflect that Mrs Willemsen, a widow, was accompanied upon her arrival in this country, by her daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Franz De Rooy, and her 2 granddaughters, 17 and 18 years of age, all of whom were legally admitted for permanent residence, and by Jacob De Rooy, the father of her son-in-law, who was also admitted temporarily for 6 months, and who is the beneficiary of H. R. 6155, 81st Congress. Mrs. Willemsen lives with her daughter and her family in Rochester, N. Y., where she is supported by her daughter. total weekly income for the family, including that of the 2 granddaughters, amounts to $203. While abroad, Mrs. Willemsen received an old-age pension of about $36 a month, which is no longer available to her since she does not now reside in the Netherlands. There appears to be little likelihood that she would become a public charge in the event she is permitted to remain in this country. In view of this alien's advanced age and her family connections in this country, the question as to whether the general provisions of the immigration laws should be waived is one of legislative policy concerning which this Department prefers not to make any recommendation. If, however, this measure should receive favorable consideration by the committee, it is suggested that it be amended by substituting a comma for the period at the end of line 6, and adding the following: "as of that date upon payment of the viso fee and head tax." Yours sincerely, PEYTON FORD, The Assistant to the Attorney General. With reference to the amendment suggested by the Department, it should be noted that H. R. 781, as passed by the House of Representatives, conforms with the new Immigration and Nationality Act and the amendment is not necessary. Congressman Kenneth B. Keating, the author of the bill, appeared before a subcommittee of the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and testified as follows: STATEMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE KENNETH B. KEATING RE H. R. 781, for the RELIEF OF JOHANNA C. WILLEMSEN Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, the report of the Immigration and Naturalization Service regarding this case states that Mrs. Johanna C. Willemsen lives in Rochester, N. Y., with her daughter, Mrs. Franz DeRooy, and Mrs. De Rooy's family. The report further states that there is little likelihood that Mrs. Willemsen would become a public charge in the event she is permitted to remain in this country. For this reason, and because of Mrs. Willemsen's advanced age, poor health, and the fact that she has no relatives now living in the Netherlands, I ask the committee's favorable consideration of H. R. 781. Mrs. Franz DeRooy, who has been admitted to the United States for permanent residence, is Mrs. Willemsen's only child. Mrs. Willemsen's physician states that she has heart trouble and "in all probability she doesn't have much longer to live.". It is felt by Mrs. Willemsen's relatives in this country that she would not survive a trip to the Netherlands if she were forced to leave the United States. The committee, after consideration of all the facts in the case, is of the opinion that the bill (H. R. 781) should be enacted. ( 3D CONGRESS 1st Session SENATE { REPORT MONIKA KLEIN JULY 14 (legislative day, JULY 6), 1953.-Ordered to be printed Mr. LANGER, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 819] The Committee on the Judiciary, to which was referred the bill (H. R. 819) for the relief of Monika Klein, 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 grant to the minor child adopted by citizens of the United States the status of a nonquota immigrant which is the status normally enjoyed by the alien minor children of United States citizens. STATEMENT OF FACTS The beneficiary of the bill was born in Austria on August 30, 1946, of a German mother and an unknown American soldier. She has been adopted by Dr. and Mrs. Ralph Charles Wood in Austria where Dr. Wood is the director of the Lutheran World Federation in Salzburg. Congressman Karl C. King, the author of the bill, appeared before subcommittee of the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and made the following statement: Monika Klein is the adopted daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Ralph C. Wood of Allentown. Dr. Wood is at present director of the Lutheran World Federation in Salzburg, Austria. Dr. and Mrs. Wood and their two small sons are residing in Salzburg, but expect to return to the States in July 1953, and would like to bring daughter Monika back with them at that time. Monika was adopted by the Woods in October 1952. 30, 1946, in Linz/Donau, Austria. Her mother was Yugoslavia, her father was allegedly an American solider. She was born on August an ethnic German from She is stateless. |