340.1115A/76: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in France (Bullitt)
1150. Your 2257, September 30, noon, Section 2, last three paragraphs, and 2274, October 2, 2 p.m.39 Your request for a block allotment for the repatriation of “several hundred” destitute Americans has had our careful consideration. You will recall that in a number of instructions and as recently as its no. 1061 of September 2540 the Department emphasized that each case for which funds are to be advanced on promissory notes for transportation must be submitted to the Department [Page 624] for investigation. This procedure is a settled policy of the Department which it must apply generally and which has been most carefully considered.
You have been authorized to grant subsistence to such as in your judgment need it until you hear from the Department after telegraphing the name of the person desiring repatriation and the names of possible relatives or friends in this country who may furnish funds so that the Department can contact them to secure the financial aid necessary for the individuals concerned. This also enables the Department to investigate the citizenship of the person as bona fide citizenship is a prerequisite to entry into the United States for the persons you mention. The Department realizes that some of these persons are in rightful possession of valid passports and the question of citizenship does not in such cases arise.
The Department is under the obligation, before authorizing the use of public funds for repatriation purposes in a particular case, to determine, through investigation here, whether the relatives or friends are in a position to forward the funds necessary for such repatriation. In view of the developments in the situation the Department does not feel that it has the authority to grant lump-sum allotments for the coverage en masse of persons among whom there may be many who have dual nationality or whose claims to citizenship are clouded or against whom a presumption of expatriation may be raised or who may be claiming a lack of funds or non-availability of funds in this country when proper investigation would show that such resources exist.
When you are advised a person is not a bona fide citizen the allowance for maintenance should cease. You will be instructed as to the Department’s decision in each case.
The Department must keep in mind not only the situation in France but that in Great Britain, in the Scandinavian countries, and in other places and must follow uniform practice. For your confidential information, there are a number of persons whom the Department does not consider bona fide citizens and who are and may be attempting to gain admission into this country after having absented themselves over a considerable period and have avoided all their obligations to this Government. Under these circumstances the Department has a definite responsibility, and it is to carry through this responsibility that such definite instructions have been sent to the field officers. We are prepared to investigate any case on your inquiry as quickly as the circumstances permit, but we cannot give a blanket allotment to cover the repatriation of the persons you mention.