File No. 2751/15.
The Acting Secretary of State to Minister Beaupré.
Washington, April 27, 1907.
Sir: The department has received your No. 512, of March 20, 1907, stating that you recently received from the diplomatic agent and consul-general at Cairo a card announcing that he had refused a passport to Jorge Nelken y Waldberg, a naturalized American citizen, “on the ground that his character and conduct are such that the [Page 1083] department does not see fit to issue him a passport.” You ask to be instructed to what extent the personal character and conduct of an American citizen are to be considered in deciding whether or not to issue him a passport.
The issuance of passports is a discretionary act on the part of the Secretary of State, and he may, for reasons deemed by him to be sufficient, direct the refusal of a passport to an American citizen; but a passport is not to be refused to an American citizen, even if his character is doubtful, unless there is reason to believe that he will put the passports to an improper or unlawful use. The causes of refusal to issue passports to citizens depend upon considerations applicable to individual cases and are not the subject of general rules. In the case of Waldberg the passport was refused under the instructions of this department because Waldberg was engaged, as the evidence showed, in blackmailing projects, and was disturbing, or endeavoring to disturb, the relations of this country with the representatives of foreign countries.
I am, etc.,