During 1926, the alien testified against two persons who had been violating the penal provisions of the immigration laws and on the basis of the alien's testimoney the defendants were convicted. In consideration of that service, the Department of Labor granted the alien the privilege of departing from the United States voluntarily in lieu of being formally deported, and it was stipulated in the above-mentioned warrant of arrest that the alien could be released from custody under bond in the sum of $1,000, pending further proceedings in his case. Certain friends of Petras Gavenas approached Michael Bilaitis (now deceased), who had been a former neighbor of Gavenas, and asked him to put up the necessary bond for Gavenas. At the time Mr. Bilaitis' money was tied up in real estate, and he requested his wife, Rose Bilaitis, to provide the necessary sum of money. This she agreed to do, and on October 16, 1926, she deposited the sum of $1,100 with the General Casualty & Surety Co., through an agent $1,000 for the bond and $100 to the bonding company for Petras Gavenas' release until his departure from this country. After Gavenas was released on bond he went to live with friends and secured employment. When Mrs. Bilaitis received notice that she should produce Gavenas for deportation she informed him of the date on which he was to appear. A week before the date scheduled for his appearance he left his boarding house and never returned. Mrs. Bilaitis spent considerable time trying to locate Gavenas or to secure proof that he had left this country, but she failed to do so at that time. The Department of Labor therefore declared the bond breached and directed that appropriate action be taken to collect the penalty thereof. A check in the sum of $1,000 was received in the Department and deposited in the Treasury on or about April 24, 1928. From that date up until September 5, 1937, Mrs. Bilaitis expended a considerable amount of time and money in trying to locate Petras Gavenas, and on that date her efforts were finally successful, and Gavenas was apprehended "as the direct and exclusive information and cooperation of Mrs. Bilaitis with this Service", as is stated by Charles V. Mallet, immigrant inspector at Gloucester, N. J. Following his apprehension, Gavenas was deported from the port of New York on October 9, 1937. The Department of Labor is "of the opinion that the claim is a meritorious one and respectfully recommends that H. R. 3163 be enacted into law." Your committee concurs in this recommendation and appends hereto the report of the Department of Labor, together with other pertinent evidence. Hon. AMBROSE J. KENNEDY, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, Chairman, House Committee on Claims, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR CONGRESSMAN KENNEDY: I have the honor to refer to your letter dated June 2, 1939, addressed to the Attorney General, concerning bill H. R. 3163 introduced for the benefit of Rose Bilaitis. As the transaction out of which the subject matter of the bill arose comes within the jurisdiction conferred upon this Department by the immigration laws, the Attorney General, as you were heretofore informed, referred the bill and a copy of your communication to this Department for attention. The bill proposes the authorization of the payment out of the Treasury of the sum of $1,000 to Rose Bilaitis to reimburse her for the loss she claims to have sustained as the result, according to the text of the bill, of a "bond guaranteeing the departure from the United States of Petras Gavenas, alien, who disappeared, causing forfeiture of the bond, and who was later apprehended and deported." You request a report of the facts as disclosed by the files of this Department, together with an opinion on the merits of the bill, and copies of the papers on file that are material to the facts and decision on the bill. In accordance with the long-continued practice in cases of this kind, the Department, instead of transmitting to your committee its file, or copies of the papers therein, pertaining to the case is submitting a complete statement of the material facts. The Department's records show that in September 1926 Petras Gavenas, an alien citizen of Lithuania, was taken into custody in Toledo, Ohio, on a warrant issued by this Department for his arrest for deportation. After due proceedings were had, the Department made the finding from the evidence adduced at the hearing given the alien on the warrant of arrest, that he had been smuggled into the United States in the vicinity of Detroit, Mich., from Canada by persons to whom he paid money for that service. By so entering surreptitiously, the alien did not comply with the requirements the law imposes upon all aliens as a condi tion precedent to lawful admission. Accordingly, on October 15, 1926, the Department issued a warrant for the deportation of the alien to his native country on various charges, one of which was that at the time of his entry into the United States he was not in possession of an unexpired immigration visa. In accordance with the provisions of section 20 of the Immigration Act of 1917 (act of February 5, 1917; 39 Stat. 890; U. S. C., title 8, sec. 156), it was stipulated in the above-mentioned warrant of arrest that the alien could be released from custody under bond in the sum of $1,000 pending further proceedings in his case. A bond for that sum was executed on October 16, 1926, by the General Casualty & Surety Co. through an agent located at 1317 First National Bank Building, Detroit, Mich. The conditions of the bond imposed upon the surety the obligation of delivering up the alien to an immigration official representing the United States, upon the request of such official, for a hearing or hearings under the warrant of arrest and for deportation if found to be in the United States unlawfully. During 1926, the alien testified for the Government against two persons who had been indicted in the United States District Court in Detroit for violations of the penal provisions of the immigration laws committed in connection with their activities in smuggling aliens into the United States. On the basis of the alien's testimony and other evidence the defendants were convicted and each was sentenced to pay a fine of $2,000 and to serve 5 years in the Federal penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kans. In consideration of that service, the Department, by an order dated January 4, 1927, granted the alien the privilege of departing from the United States voluntarily in lieu of being formally deported therefrom. When the alien failed to so depart, a demand was made upon the General Casualty & Surety Co. at the direction of the district director of immigration and naturalization at Detroit to surrender the alien for deportation on October 5, 1927, but the demand was not complied with. However, the Detroit immigration authorities received a letter dated October 3, 1927, from Rose Biliatis, a resident of Detroit, who seems to have been the indemnitor through whom the above-mentioned bond was obtained from the General Casualty & Surety Co. It was stated in that letter that she has been absent from her home 3 weeks trying to locate the alien in various places in the eastern part of Pennsylvania, and had employed detectives and police officers to assist her, but their efforts proved unsuccessful. The Department granted her request for additional time to surrender the alien, or produce proof of his departure from the United States, the amount thereof to be determined in the discretion of the district director at Detroit. Thereafter, upon consideration of the report of the district director that inquiries made upon the above-named surety for information as to the whereabouts of the alien remained unanswered, the Department entered an order on February 11, 1928, declaring the bond breached and directing that appropriate action be taken to collect the penalty thereof. On March 1, 1928, the Department denied the request made by Mrs. Biliatis that she be given additional time to apprehend the alien. In accordance with the demand for payment made upon the General Casualty & Surety Co., a check in the sum of $1,000 was received in the Department and deposited in the Treasury to the credit of "Miscellaneous receipts" on or about April 24, 1928. The alien was rearrested on September 5, 1937, by an immigrant inspector attached to the immigration station at Gloucester City, N. J., and deported from the port of New York on October 9, 1937. With reference to your request for an opinion on the merits of the claim set up by bill H. R. 3163, there are attached hereto, in duplicate, a copy of a letter dated July 5, 1939, received from the district director of immigration and naturalization at Gloucester City, N. J., and copy of a report dated September 15, 1937, made by Immigrant Inspector Charles V. Mallet who apprehended the alien. The contents of the inspector's report clearly establish that the alien's rearrest and ensuing deportation was the result of the long-continued efforts of Mrs. Biliatis during the 10 years that followed the alien's disappearance, and also at great personal cost and expense to her. As will be noted, Inspector Mallet expressed the view that Mrs. Biliatis impressed him "as a person who is entirely worthy of any official consideration which may be accorded her, in the matter of properly assisting her in recovering the amount of money involved in connection with the bond for Gavenas, if such action be warrantable under law." Upon consideration of all the facts, the Department is of the opinion that the claim is a meritorious one and respectfully recommends that H. R. 3163 be enacted into law. Respectfully, GERARD D. REILLY, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, COMMISSIONER, IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE, Washington, D. C. Replying to inquiry of the Solicitor, as per memorandum of Senior Attorney E. J. Garrahan, dated 22d ultimo, transmitted to this office with central office letter of the 22d ultimo, C. O. file 55587/662, we wish to advise that Mrs. Rose Bilaitis of 8756 Epworth Boulevard, Detroit, Mich., called at this office on September 4, 1937, and furnished information to the effect that the alien, Petras Gavenas or Pietros Gavienas would attend and could be apprehended at a certain Lithuanian picnic to be held the following Sunday as a result of which the alien was apprehended at said picnic at Mantua, N. J., by a representative of this office. (See reports of Inspector James A. Ettinger, dated September 4, 1937, and Charles V. Mallet, dated September 15, 1937, attached.) This letter and its enclosures are submitted in quadruplicate. J. L. HUGHES, District Director. GLOUCESTER CITY, N. J., September 15, 1937. DISTRICT DIRECTOR, IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE, Gloucester City, N. J. 1. As directed by you, and acting under the authority of warrant of arrest No. 55587/662, issued as to the alien, Petras Gavenas or Pietros Gavienas, I have taken into custody the alien referred to, on Sunday September 5, 1937, and lodged him in the detention house at this station about 6 p. m. the same date, pending his deportation. 2. This arrest was effected on information supplied this office on the 4th instant by Mrs. Rose Bilaitis, of Detroit, Mich., who had originally posted collateral security with the General Casualty & Surety Co. of Detroit, for the release of the alien from custody, pending deportation proceedings in the fall of 1926. 3. Our file indicates that this office has made repeated efforts to apprehend Gavenas since 1927, in that he had breached his bond, leaving Detroit for this section of the country. Since the flight of the alien from Detroit Mrs. Bilaitis has actively interested herself in the matter of apprehending the alien, in which efforts she has evidently expended several hundred dollars. 4. The alien's arrest at this time is directly due to the intelligent and clever planning of Mrs. Bilaitis, who had permanently enlisted the cooperation of her friends in the anthracite regions within this district, she herself being of Lithuanian extraction, and a native of Scranton, Pa. 5. Through intimate friends she was advised that the alien would attend a Lithuanian picnic at an undesignated point on automobile route No. 47, leading out of Camden, N. J., and she had arranged to have Gavenas identified by ore of her friends to an officer of this station, for the reason that she was personally unable to identify subject, due to the fact that she had only known him casually as a friend of her deceased husband, at whose instance she had posted the security on the bond. 6. After several inquiries had been made the picnic grounds were located as the result of information received by the undersigned from the New Jersey State police, located in the town of Mantua. The picnic is an annual affair, and is attended by Lithuanians from distances as far removed as the New England States. Mrs. Bilaitis arranged for me to meet her friends, and as the result of a conference the alien was taken into custody in such a manner as not to disclose their connection with the physical arrest. 7. The alien denied his identity at the time I accosted him, but after he had recovered from his surprise, and on my insistence, he finally acknowledged that he was Gavenas. The arrest was safeguarded by an arrangement made with a police officer, who had been assigned to preserve order, from the Woodbury police station; and the alien was removed from the group of his friends, with whom he was drinking, without any physical disorder. 8. Mrs. Bilaitis was in the background throughout my connection with the case. After she had followed the official car to this station, she confronted the alien after he had been placed in detention, for the special purpose of conveying to the mind of Gavenas that she alone was responsible in the matter of having finally effected his arrest, particularly to cover the activities of her Lithuanian friends who had served her so well in the case. 9. Gavenas was very humble and contrite in the presence of Mrs. Bilaitis, and made many apologies and excuses for his betrayal of her kindness to him. Occasion was taken, through Mrs. Bilaitis, to secure a statement from the alien respecting the circumstances under which he was influenced to take flight from Detroit. He stated that a personal friend had accompanied him to a certain lawyer in Detroit, who was probably identified with the defense of his case in our proceedings, the friend referred to being known to Mrs. Bilaitis. He explained that the lawyer informed him that if he breached his bond Mr. or Mrs. Bilaitis would only suffer the loss of $100, which amount probably represented the sum of the premium paid for the surety bonds. In this connection, it developed that subsequent to his flight Gavenas had sent to Mrs. Bilaitis some sum, less than $100, there being no other remittances paid on any account; nor did the alien, at any time, indicate his whereabouts. (NOTE. This mention is made for the information of the district director at Detroit, for such consideration as may be deemed warrantable.) 10. Incident to the visit of Mrs. Bilaitis of this office, she disclosed the fact that she had secured the promise of some personal friends in the matter of having a congressional bill introduced in her behalf, particularly if she was able to establish that the apprehension of Gavenas was brought about by her personal and persistent efforts, and that officials of our Detroit office had expressed interest and sympathy with such a proposal. In this connection, I do not hesitate to officially certify that the arrest of the alien at this time was effected as the direct and exclusive information and cooperation of Mrs. Bilaitis with this Service. She and her friends originally conceived the plan under which the arrest was made possible, leaving only the details, and the actual arrest, to the duties of the undersigned. The lady impressed me as a person who is entirely worthy of any official consideration which may be accorded her, in the matter of properly assisting her in recovering the amount of money involved in connection with the bond for Gavenas, if such action be warrantable under law. CHARLES V. MALLET, IN THE MATTER OF PETRAS GAVENAS Statement taken in Administration Building, Philadelphia Immigration Station, Gloucester City, N. J., on September 4, 1937, beginning at 11:30 a. m. Present: Mrs. Rose Bilaitis; J. A. Ettinger, immigrant inspector; and Marion W. Ruck, stenographer. Inspector to Mrs. Bilaitis: Q. Mrs. Bilaitis, you call here today with respect to the case of one Petras Gavenas. Are you prepared, voluntarily, to make a statement, under oath, with respect to the matter? A. Yes, sir. Q. Will you raise your right hand, please? Do you solemnly swear that the statements you will make here will be the truth, to the best of your knowledge and belief, so help you God? A. Yes, sir. Q. What is your name, address, and citizenship?-A. I am an American citizen, born in the United States; my name is Rose Bilaitis and my address is 8756 Epworth Boulevard, Detroit, Mich. Q. Are you in this vicinity temporarily, or do you have an address here?-A. I just came in this morning, but we expect to stay overnight. Q. You expect to return to your Detroit address?-A. Yes; I would like to be back there as soon as possible. Q. Did you come here in connection with this case of Petras Gavenas?-A. Yes> Q. How are you interested in the case?-A. Well, I put up $1,000 bond, beside about $500 spent looking for him and the cost of the bond and everything else Q. Did you file a delivery bond in connection with deportation proceedings which were pending in Detroit? A. Yes. Q. When was that?-A. In the fall of 1927. Q. Has Gavenas ever used any other name that you know of?-A. I do not know, but he may have; I have heard he used other names. Q. How old is he?-A. In his middle forties, nearer to 50. Q. Of what country is he a native, and what is his race?-A. He is a Lithuanian, of the white race. Q. What are the facts with respect to the basis for the deportation proceedings? -A. He entered the United States illegally. He was rowed over by some smugglers and dumped on some island, and the smugglers went back and he swam across. The border patrol picked him up. Q. Was that at Detroit?-A. Yes. Q. When was that entry made, do you know?-A. I do not know the exact date. Q. Could you give the month or year?-A. It was the latter part of 1926. Q. How did you become interested in the case at that time, so as to persuade you to secure that bond?-A. My husband was a nieghbor of his in Lithuania. My husband did not have the necessary money, so I put up the bond. Q. Was he ordered deported?-A. Yes; he was supposed to go but I could not get hold of him then. Q. He has been a fugitive since 1927?-A. Yes. Q. Has he been in the United States all that time, do you know?-A. Yes. Q. Was your bond confiscated?-A. Yes, sir. Q. You said something about having been referred to this office by Mr. Zurbick, at Detroit. Just explain a little about that for the record.-A. Well, I spoke to Mr. Zurbick in March with respect to that. He said he would send a man to look up the addresses I gave him, but they could not find Gavenas. Mr. Zurbick thought he was in Philadelphia. I asked him what I should do, and he told me all I would have to do would be to locate Gavenas and take him to Mr. Hughes at Gloucester. Q. That was your last contact with Mr. Zurbick?-A. Yes. Q. Do you have any papers with you with respect to the case?-A. No; I have not. Q. You do not know the Detroit or Washington file numbers?—No; I do not. Q. Have you received any more definite information with respect to the whereabouts of Gavenas? A. Yes; I have, but it was verbal. He will be attending some picnic right around here, on Route 47. This party will be with him or will point him out to me, because I have only seen him about four times, and that was 10 years ago. Q. What organization is giving this picnic?-A. It is a Philadelphia newspaper, called Laisves. They are meeting at the Lithuanian Club at 2806 South Eightieth Street, Philadelphia, at 10 o'clock. The picnic is to be held in a park somewhere on Route 47. Q. Give a description of Gavenas.-A. He is short and stocky, broad-shouldered, fair complexion, and has sort of a fringe of blonde hair. The last time I saw him he had one front tooth missing in his upper jaw. He is quite stocky. Q. Is Gavenas married, do you know?-A. He is in Europe. Q. Have you any other knowledge, or information with respect to the case that you want to furnish to us at this time?-A. His brother Joseph, lived at 715 Wallace Street about 10 years ago, and worked in the kitchen of Strawbridge & Clothier's. He has another brother in Tamaqua and one in Coaldale. I was looking for him about 10 years ago and the Philadelphia police assigned an officer to go with me to the Lithuanian Club and other places with me. His brother probably knew where he was but we could not locate him. My husband has since died, and they are getting careless now; they think they have nothing to worry about, although I put the bond up. JAMES A. ETTINGER, I hereby certify that the foregoing one to three pages is a full, true, and accurate transcript of stenographic notes taken by me in the above case at Gloucester City, N. J., on September 4, 1937. MARION W. RUCK, Stenographer. STATE OF MICHIGAN, County of Wayne, ss: Rose Bilaitis, being first duly sworn, deposes and says: That in the month of October 1926, Petras Gavanas, who was my husband's neighbor in Lithuania, was held by immigration authorities at Detroit, Mich., for violating the immigration laws. My husband's name was Michael Bilaitis and at that time we lived at 4862 Whitfield Avenue, Detroit, Mich. Friends of Petras Gavanas pleaded with my husband to put up a bond for him so that he could be free and earn some money before he was deported, as he would be deported in a few months and we could get our money back without any loss to us. My husband's money being tied up in real estate and not having that much cash on hand, he asked me if I would put up my money, which I agreed to do for my husband's sake. I had never met Petras Gavanas. On October 16, 1926, I paid $1,100 to the bonding company, $1,000 for the bond and $100 to the bonding company for Petras Gavanas' release until he would be deported. I do not recall |