The Acting Secretary of
State to Minister Rockhill.
Department of State,
Washington, November 2,
1906.
No. 209.]
Sir: In answer to your dispatch, No. 389, of
September 6 last, asking whether a Chinese child adopted by an American
citizen in China may be admitted to the United States for the purpose of
being educated, I inclose herewith, for your information, a copy of a
letter from the Acting Secretary of Commerce and Labor, stating that a
child born of Chinese parents in China can not be permitted to enter the
United States as an American citizen because of its adoption by a
temporary resident of China who is a citizen of the United States, and
that you are correct in holding that the persons interested in the child
should adopt the usual procedure to insure its admission to this
country, namely, the procurement of a certificate under the provisions
of section 6 of the act of July 5, 1884.
I am, etc.,
[Inclosure.]
The Acting Secretary of
Commerce and Labor to the Secretary
of State.
Department of Commerce and Labor,
Office of the
Secretary,
Washington, October 23,
1906.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the
receipt of your letter of the 19th instant, No. 1584, with which you
inclose a copy of a dispatch from the American [Page 290] minister to China requesting
advice whether a Chinese child adopted by an American citizen in
China may be admitted to the United States for the purpose of being
educated. The minister seeks specific instructions as to the
correctness of an opinion expressed by him to the effect that the
Chinese child mentioned can not be admitted as an American citizen
merely because of its adoption by a lady who is a citizen of the
United States.
So far as the department is aware, this particular question has never
been raised, either before the executive branch of the government or
in the courts. Upon careful reflection, however, it is constrained,
in the light of the fact that it is impossible for a member of the
Chinese race, under existing naturalization laws and decisions of
the courts, to become a citizen of the United States by any other
means than birth within its territory, to hold that a child born of
Chinese parents in China can not be permitted to enter the United
States as an American citizen because of its adoption by a temporary
resident of the Empire of China who is a citizen of this country.
The minister was correct in holding that the persons interested in
the child should adopt the usual procedure to insure its admission
to this country, viz, the procurement of a certificate under the
provisions of section 6 of the act of July 5, 1884.
Respectfully,
