852.48/121
The Secretary of State to the Spanish Chargé (De la Casa)
Sir: I acknowledge the receipt of your note of June 16, 1937, concerning the interest of the Spanish Embassy in the admission into the United States of a number of children from Bilbao and the Basque country.
In reply I assure you that the Department has the most sincere sympathy for these children, who, as I understand it, have been forced to depart from their homes in Spain and are now living temporarily in France.
As to the question of their obtaining passport visas, the decision is placed by law upon the appropriate American consular officers abroad, who must be guided by the provisions of existing laws governing the admission of aliens into the United States. Although I am not in a position to give you any assurance at this time as to the final action which may be taken in regard to the visa applications of these children when made, I assure you their cases will have the most sympathetic consideration.
A copy of your note and of the present reply are being transmitted to the Department of Labor, which is responsible under the law for the admission into the United States of aliens to whom visas have been issued.
Accept [etc.]