Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, With the Annual Message of the President, Transmitted to Congress December 2, 1895, Part II

Mr. Ransom to Mr. Olney.

Legation of the United States,
Mexico, November 9, 1895. (Received Nov. 16.)

No. 82.]

Sir: I have the honor to inclose herewith, in original and translation, the laws of Mexico concerning naturalization and the law relative to the acquisition of real estate in Mexico by foreigners.

I have, etc.,

Matt W. Ransom.

[Inclosure 1 in No. 82—Translation.]

Law relative to the acquisition of real estate by foreigners.

Ministry of Public Works,
Colonization, Industry, and Commerce,
Mexico, February 1, 1856.

second section.

His Excellency the Acting President of the Republic has been pleased to address me the following decree:

Citizen Ignacio Comonfort, Acting President of the Mexican Republic, to its inhabitants, know ye that by virtue of the powers granted me by the plan proclaimed at Ayutla and amended at Acapulco, I have thought proper to decree as follows:

• Article 1. Foreigners domiciled and residing in the Republic may acquire and own property in the country and in the city, including mines of all kinds of metals and of coal, either by purchase, award, denouncement, or any other title of ownership fixed by the common laws or by the mining ordinance.
• Art. 2. No foreigner shall be permitted, without the previous permission of the Supreme Government, to acquire real estate in the frontier state or territories within the distance of 20 leagues from the boundary line.
• Art. 3. Foreigners “desiring to obtain the permission mentioned in the foregoing article must address their petition to the ministry of public works, in order that, after examination of the petition and of the report of the Government of the respective state or territory, a proper decision may be arrived at.
• Art. 4. In the case of purchases made by foreigners of houses in towns or of building lots near towns, under the provisions of this law, the actual occupants or tenants shall enjoy the same rights as citizens under the same circumstances and upon the same conditions.
• Art. 5. Foreigners acquiring real estate under this law remain subject, in everything relating to such real estate, to such regulations as may have been made or shall hereafter be made in the Republic with regard to the transfer, use, and retention of such real estate, as well as to the payment of all kinds of taxes, without the right to allege at any time with respect to these matters their rights as aliens.
• Art. 6. Hence, all questions which may arise as to such property shall be tried in the courts of the Republic and in conformity with its laws to the exclusion of all foreign intervention of any kind.
• Art. 7. Foreigners acquiring country or town property or mines under this law shall be bound to render military service whenever the security of such property or the maintenance of order in the district in which it is located is involved. Except in these cases such service shall not be required of them.
• Art. 8. In order that aliens who have acquired property in the Republic may become citizens thereof, it shall be sufficient for them to make a declaration of their wish [to be naturalized] before the civil authorities of the place of their residence. On the presentation of that declaration at the ministry of [foreign] affairs, accompanied by their petition to that effect, their letter of citizenship shall be issued to them.

Wherefore I order these presents to be printed, published, circulated, and duly executed.

Given in the national palace of Mexico, February 1, 1856.

Ignacio Comonfort.

To Citizen Manuel Siliceo.

And I communicate it to you for your information and for the necessary purposes. God and liberty.

Siliceo.

[Inclosure 2 in No. 82—Translation.]

Law concerning alienship and naturalization.

Department of State and of Foreign Relations,
Chancellor’s Office,
Mexico, May 28, 1886.

The President of the Republic has been pleased to transmit me the following decree:

Porfirio Diaz, President of the United States of Mexico, to its inhabitants, know ye, that the Congress of the Union has decreed as follows:

The Congress of the United States of Mexico decrees the following:

LAW CONCERNING ALIENS AND NATURALIZATION.

Chapter I.

of mexicans and aliens.

• Article 1. The following are Mexicans:

  I. Those born in the national territory of a father who is a Mexican by birth or by naturalization.

  II. Those horn in the national territory of a Mexican mother and of a father who is not legally known under the laws of the Republic. Those born of unknown parents, or of parents of unknown nationality, shall be classed under this head.

  III. Those born outside of the Republic, of a Mexican father who has not lost his nationality. If he has lost his nationality the children shall be considered aliens, hut may, nevertheless, elect to be Mexicans within one year from the day on which they attain the age of 21 years, provided they make a declaration to that effect before the diplomatic or consular agents of the Republic, if they reside abroad, or before the department of [foreign] relations if they reside in the national territory.

  If the children to whom this section relates reside in the national territory, and on attaining their majority have accepted any public office, or have served in the army, navy, or national guard, they shall be regarded in consequence of such acts as Mexicans, without the necessity of any further formalities.

  IV. Those born outside the Republic, of a Mexican mother, if the father is unknown and if the mother has not lost her nationality under the provisions of this law. If the mother has been naturalized in a foreign country her children will be aliens, but they shall have the right to elect to be Mexicans on the same terms and conditions as those provided by the foregoing section.

  V. Mexicans who, having lost their national character under the provisions of this law, recover it by the fulfillment of the conditions fixed by this law, in accordance with the various cases recited.

  VI. Foreign women who have intermarried with Mexicans; and they retain their Mexican nationality during their widowhood.

  VII. Those born outside of the Republic, but who, having been residents in it in 1821, took the oath to the act of independence, have continued their residence in the national territory, and have not changed their nationality.

  VIII. Mexicans, who, residing in the territories ceded to the United States by the treaties of February 2, 1848, and November 30, 1853, fulfilled the conditions required by those treaties for the preservation of their Mexican nationality. Under this head shall be classed Mexicans who continue to reside in territory belonging to Guatemala, and citizens of Guatemala remaining in territory belonging to Mexico under the treaty of September 27, 1882, provided such citizens comply with the requirements stipulated in article 5 of that treaty.

  IX. Aliens who are naturalized in accordance with the present law.

  X. Aliens acquiring real estate in the Republic, provided they do not declare their intention of retaining their nationality. At the time of making the acquisition the alien shall declare to the officiating notary or judge whether he does or does not wish to acquire the Mexican nationality granted him by Section III of article 30 of the constitution; and the alien’s decision on this point shall appear in the document.

  If he chooses Mexican citizenship, or if he omits making any declaration on the subject, he may, within one year, apply to the department of [foreign] relations, in order to comply with the requirements of article 19, and be deemed a Mexican.

  XII. Aliens having children born in Mexico, provided they do not prefer to retain their alien character. At the time of registering the birth, the father shall declare his decision on this point before the judge of civil registration, and such decision shall appear in the document itself; and if he elects to acquire Mexican citizenship, or if he omits making any declaration on the subject he may, within one year, apply to the department of [foreign] relations, in order to comply with the requirements of article 19, and be deemed a Mexican.

  XII. Aliens serving the Mexican Government in an official capacity, or accepting from it titles or public offices, provided that within one year after accepting the titles or public offices conferred upon them, or after beginning to serve the Mexican Government in an official capacity, they apply to the department of [foreign] relations in order to comply with the requirements of article 19, and be deemed Mexicans.

• Art. 2. The following are aliens:

  I. Those born outside of the national territory who are subjects of foreign Governments, and who have not been naturalized in Mexico.

  II. The children of an alien father, or of an alien mother and unknown father, horn in the national territory, until they reach the age at which, according to the law of the nationality of the father or of the mother, as the case may be, they become of age. At the expiration of the year following that age, they shall be regarded as Mexicans, unless they declare before the civil authorities of the place where they reside that they follow the citizenship of their parents.

  III. Those absent from the Republic without permission or commission from the Government, excepting in order to prosecute their studies, or in the interests of the public, or for the establishment of trade or industry, or in the practice of a profession, who allow ten years to elapse without asking permission to prolong their absence. Such permission shall not exceed five years for each request; and after the first is granted good and valid reasons shall be required in order to obtain another permission.

  IV. Mexican women who have married aliens, and they retain their alien character during their widowhood. If the marriage is dissolved, the Mexican woman may recover her citizenship, provided that, in addition to fixing her residence in the Republic she declares before the judge of the civil state of her domicile her wish to recover her citizenship.

  A Mexican woman who has not acquired by marriage the nationality of her husband under the laws of his country, shall retain her own nationality.

  The husband’s change of nationality after marriage involves the change of the nationality of the wife and of the minor children subject to the paternal power, provided they reside in the country in which the husband or father, as the case may be, has been naturalized, saving the exception provided in the preceding paragraph of this section.

  V. Mexicans who have been naturalized in other countries.

  VI. Mexicans serving foreign governments officially in any political, administrative, judicial, military, or diplomatic capacity, without the permission of Congress.

  VII. Mexicans accepting foreign decorations, titles, or offices, without the previous permission of the Federal Congress, excepting literary, scientific, and humanitarian titles, which may be accepted freely.

• Art. 3. For the purpose of determining the place of birth in the cases stated in the foregoing articles, national vessels, without any distinction, are hereby declared to be a part of the national territory, and those who are born on board of them shall be regarded as having been born within the Republic.
• Art. 4. By virtue of the right of extraterritoriality enjoyed by diplomatic agents, the children of the ministers and employees of the legations of the Republic shall, likewise, never be deemed to have been born outside of the country, so far as regards the operation of this law.
• Art. 5. The nationality of artificial persons or entities (corporations) is regulated by the law authorizing their creation; hence, all corporations created under the laws of the Republic shall be Mexican, provided that, in addition, they have their legal domicile in the Republic.

Foreign corporations enjoy in Mexico the rights granted them by the laws of the country of their domicile, provided such laws do not conflict with those of the nation.

Chapter II.

of expatriation.

• Art. 6. The Mexican Republic recognizes the right of expatriation as natural to, and inherent in, every man, and as necessary to the enjoyment of individual liberty; hence, just as it permits its inhabitants to exercise that right, allowing them to leave its territory and settle in foreign countries, so, likewise, it protects the rights of aliens of all nationalities to come and settle within its jurisdiction. The Republic consequently receives the subjects and citizens of other States, and naturalizes them in accordance with the provisions of this law.
• Art. 7. Expatriation and the subsequent naturalization obtained in a foreign country do not exempt a criminal from the extradition, prosecution, and punishment to which he is liable under the treaties, international practices, and the laws of the country.
• Art. 8. Citizens naturalized in Mexico, although they may be abroad, are entitled to the same protection from the Government of the Republic as Mexicans by birth, where either their persons or their property are involved. Nevertheless, if they return to their native country, they remain subject to liabilities which they may have incurred under the laws of that country before their naturalization.
• Art. 9. The Mexican Government will protect Mexican citizens abroad by such means as are authorized by international law. The President, when he sees fit, will make use of those means, provided that they do not constitute acts of hostility; but if diplomatic intervention should not suffice, and if such means should prove inadequate, or if the offenses against Mexican nationality should be so grave as to demand more rigorous measures, the President shall immediately make a report to Congress, transmitting the documents on the subject for constitutional purposes.
• Art. 10. The naturalization of an alien is rendered void by his residing for two years in the country of his birth, excepting where he has an official commission from the Mexican Government, or where he has its commission.

Chapter III.

of naturalization.

• Art. 11. Any alien who complies with the requirements fixed by this law may be naturalized in the Republic.
• Art. 12. He must present himself in writing to the common council of his place of residence at least six months before asking for naturalization, declaring his intention to become a Mexican citizen and to renounce his foreign nationality. The common council shall give him a certified copy of such declaration, retaining the original in its archives.
• Art. 13. At the expiration of the six months, and when the alien has resided two years in the Republic, he may petition the federal Government to grant him his certificate of naturalization. In order to obtain it he must first appear before the district judge in whose jurisdiction he is and undertake to prove the following facts:

  I. That under the laws of his country he enjoys full civil rights, being of age.

  II. That he has resided in the Republic at least two years, and has conducted himself properly.

  III. That he has a business, trade, profession, or income to support him.

• Art. 14. He shall annex to the petition which he presents to the district judge, asking that those facts be investigated, the certified copy issued by the common council, mentioned in article 12, and shall annex, besides, an express renunciation of all submission, obedience, and fealty to every foreign government, especially that of which the petitioner has been a subject, of all protection other than the laws and authorities of Mexico, and of every right granted to aliens by treaties or international law.
• Art. 15. The district judge, after the petitioner has confirmed his petition, shall order the testimony of witnesses to be taken before the district attorney (promotor fiscal) with regard to the points recited in article 13, and, if he thinks necessary, may call upon the common council mentioned in article 12 for a report on those points.
• The judge shall also admit such other testimony as the petitioner may present with regard to the points mentioned in article 13, and shall require the opinion of the district attorney.
• Art. 16. The judge, if his decision is favorable to the petitioner, shall forward the original record to the department of [foreign] relations, that it may issue the certificate of naturalization if, in its opinion, there is no legal cause to prevent it. The petitioner shall send a petition to that department through the said judge, requesting the certificate of naturalization and confirming his renunciation of his alien character, and promising adhesion, obedience, and submission to the laws and authorities of the Republic.
• Art. 17. Aliens serving in the national merchant marine may be naturalized after one year of service on board ship, instead of the two required by article 13. The district judge of any of the ports at which the vessel touches shall be competent to execute the naturalization formalities; any of the common councils of those ports may receive the declaration referred to in article 12.
• Art. 18. Aliens naturalized by virtue of the law, and those who have the right to elect Mexican citizenship, are not included in the provisions of articles 12, 13,14,15, and 16; consequently the children of a Mexican man or woman who has lost his or her citizenship referred to in Sections III and IV of article 1; alien women who have married Mexicans, referred to in Section VI of article 1; the children of an alien father, or of an alien mother and unknown father, born in the national territory, referred to in Section II of article 2; and Mexican women who are the widows of aliens, referred to in Section IV of article 2, shall be deemed naturalized, for all legal purposes, upon simply complying with the requirements fixed by those provisions without the necessity of further formalities.
• Art. 19. Aliens who come under the provisions of Sections X, XI, and XII of article 1 may petition the department of [foreign] relations for their certificate of naturalization within the period fixed by those sections. They shall annex to their petition a document proving that they have acquired real estate, or that they have had children born to them in Mexico, or that they have accepted some public position, as the case may be. They shall present, moreover, the renunciation and promise required by articles 14 and 16, as a preliminary to naturalization.
• Art. 20. Absence in a foreign country by permission of the Government does not interrupt the residence required by article 13, provided it does not exceed six months during the period of two years.
• Art. 21. No certificates of naturalization shall be granted to the subjects or citizens of a nation with which the Republic is in a state of war.
• Art. 22. Nor shall they be given to persons judicially reputed and declared in other countries pirates, slave dealers, incendiaries, coiners of false money or counterfeiters of bank notes or of other papers representing money, nor to murderers, persons enslaving free men, or robbers. Naturalization fraudulently obtained by an alien in violation of law is legally void.
• Art. 23. Certificates of naturalization shall be issued without charge, and no tax shall be levied upon them under pretense of costs, registration, stamp, or any other appellation.
• Art. 24. The act of naturalization being strictly personal, the person concerned can be represented by another person only by means of a special and sufficient power for that act, containing the renunciation and promise which the party interested should make in person, according to articles 14 and 16; but the power shall in no case supply the want of the alien’s actual residence in the Republic.
• Art. 25. The character of citizen or alien is not transmissible to third persons; consequently, a citizen can not enjoy the rights of an alien, nor an alien the privileges of a citizen, by means of transfer from another person.
• Art. 26. Change of nationality has no retroactive effect. The acquisition and rehabilitation of the rights of Mexican citizenship can take effect only from the day following that on which all the conditions and formalities prescribed by this law for obtaining naturalization have been complied with.
• Art. 27. Colonists coming into the country under contracts made by the Government, and whose expenses of transportation and settlement are defrayed by the Government, shall be deemed Mexicans. Their engagement to renounce their original nationality and to adopt the Mexican nationality shall appear in their enrollment contract, and upon settling in the colony they shall execute before the competent authorities the renunciation and promise required by articles 13 and 16, which shall be forwarded to the department of [foreign] relations, that it may issue a certificate of naturalization in favor of the party interested.
• Art. 28. Colonists coming into the country on their own account, or under the auspices of private companies or enterprises not subsidized by the Government, as well as immigrants of all classes, maybe naturalized, according to circumstances, in conformity with the provisions of this law. Colonists already settled here are likewise subject to those provisions, so far as they do not conflict with the rights which they have acquired under their contracts.
• Art. 29. Naturalized aliens shall be Mexican citizens as soon as they possess the qualifications required by article 34 of the constitution, and shall be on an equality with Mexicans in all their rights and obligations; but they shall not be eligible to hold such offices or stations as, under the laws, require native citizenship, unless they were born within the national territory and their naturalization was effected in accordance with Section II of article 2.

Chapter IV.

of the rights and obligations of aliens.

• Art. 30. Aliens enjoy in the Republic the civil rights belonging to Mexicans and the guaranties granted by section 1 of Title I of the constitution, without prejudice to the Government’s right to expel a mischievous alien.
• Art. 31. Aliens shall not be compelled to reside in the Republic in order to acquire uncultivated national lands, real estate, or vessels, but they shall be subject to the restrictions prescribed by the laws in force, it being understood that every lease of real estate to an alien shall be deemed an alienation if the term of the contract exceeds ten years.
• Art. 32. The federal law alone can modify or abridge the civil rights enjoyed by aliens in consequence of the principle of international reciprocity, and in order that the aliens may thereby be subject in the Republic to the same disqualifications as the laws of their own country impose on Mexicans residing there; hence the provisions of the civil code and of the code of civil procedure of the [federal] district on this subject have a federal character and shall be obligatory throughout the whole Union.
• Art. 33. Aliens may be domiciled in the Republic for all legal purposes without losing their nationality. The acquisition, change, and loss of domicile are governed by the laws of Mexico.
• Art. 34. When the suspension of individual guaranties is declared under the circumstances under which it is permitted by article 29 of the constitution, aliens as well as Mexicans are subject to the provisions of the law decreeing the suspension, without prejudice to the stipulations of treaties.
• Art. 35. Aliens are bound to contribute to the public expenses in the manner prescribed by the laws, and to obey and respect the institutions, laws, and authorities of the country; they must submit to the judgments and decisions of the courts, and have no right to have recourse to other measures than those which the laws grant to Mexicans. They may appeal to the diplomatic channel only in the case of denial of justice or intentional delay in its administration, after exhausting in vain the ordinary means created hy the laws, and in the manner prescribed by international law.
• Art. 36. Aliens do not enjoy the political rights of Mexican citizens; hence they can not vote for, nor be elected to, any office lilted by election of the people, nor can they be appointed to any other office or charge peculiar to the careers of the State; nor can they belong to the army, navy, or national guard; nor can they assemble to discuss the political affairs of the country, nor exercise the right of petition in that class of affairs. This is to be understood as not affecting the provisions of article 1, Section XII, and article 19 of this law.
• Art. 37. Aliens are exempt from military service. Domiciled aliens, however, are bound to perform police service when the security of property or the maintenance of order in the town in which they are residing is involved.
• Art. 38. Aliens taking part in the civil dissensions of the country may be expelled from its territory as mischievous aliens, and are subject to the laws of the Republic as to the offenses which they commit against it, without prejudice to the regulation of their rights and obligations during the state of war, by international law and treaties.
• Art. 39. The laws ordering the registration of aliens are repealed. The ministry of [foreign] relations alone can issue certificates of any given nationality in favor of the aliens requesting them. These certificates constitute the legal presumption of foreign citizenship, but do not exclude proof to the contrary. The final proof of any given nationality is made before the competent courts and by the means prescribed by the laws and treaties.
• Art. 40. This law does not grant to aliens the rights denied them by international law, treaties, or the legislation in force in the Republic.

Chapter V.

temporary provisions.

• Art. 1. Aliens who have acquired real estate, who have had children born to them in Mexico, or who have held any public office, being those referred to in Sections X, XI, and XII of article 1 of this law, are bound to declare within six months¹ after the promulgation of this law, provided they have not done so previously, to the civil authorities of their place Of residence whether they wish to acquire Mexican citizenship or to retain their own. In the former case they must immediately ask for their certificate of naturalization in the form prescribed in article 19 of this law. If they fail to make the declaration in question, they shall be considered Mexicans, except in those cases where there has been an official declaration on this point.
• Art. 2. Colonists residing in the country, being those referred to in the last sentence of article 28 of this law, shall declare in the manner prescribed by the preceding article under what nationality they wish to be classed, and if it should be the Mexican, they shall also ask for their certificate of naturalization, as prescribed by the preceding article.
• Art. 3. The Executive, in issuing the necessary regulations for the execution of this law, shall be careful to give the proper directions in order that the local authorities, so far as they are concerned, may duly execute it.

[Signed, etc.]

Wherefore, I order it to be printed, published, circulated, and duly executed.

Given in the national palace of Mexico, May 28, 1886.

Porfirio Diaz.

To Citizen Ignacio Mariscal,
Secretary of State and of the Department of Foreign Relations.

In communicating it to you for your information and for the necessary purposes, I assure you of my great consideration.

Mariscal.

1. This period was prolonged by the following decree:

   Section 4.

   Department of State and of Foreign Relations,
   Mexico, May 30, 1887.

   The President of the Republic has been pleased to address me the following decree:

   Porfirio Diaz, President of the United States of Mexico, to its inhabitants, know ye that the Congress of the Union has decreed as follows:

   The Congress of the United States of Mexico decrees:

   Only article: The term fixed by article 1, Chapter V, of the law enacted May 28, 1886, is prolonged for eight months, counting from the date of the present decree, in order that aliens who have acquired real estate, who have had children born to them in Mexico, or who have held any public office prior to May 28, 1886, being those referred to in Sections X, XI, and XII of article 1, Chapter I, of the said law, may declare whether they wish to acquire Mexican citizenship or to retain their own.

   [Signed, etc.]

   Wherefore, I order it to be printed, published, circulated, and duly executed.

   Given in the national palace of Mexico, May 30, 1887.

   Porfirio Diaz.

   To the Secretary of State and of the Department of Foreign Relations.

   I communicate this to you for your information in order that the aliens referred to in the foregoing decree may make the declaration prescribed therein, before this ministry, or before the civil authorities of their place of residence, or of the place nearest to it, to the end that the said authorities may forward it immediately to this department, which will issue to them the document required, suitable to each case.

   I renew to you the assurances of my consideration,

   Mariscal.