32

52

Opinion of the Court.

act was passed. This second law, which required Chinese to register and carry identification cards with them at all times, was enacted May 5, 1892. An opponent of this legislation, speaking in the Senate of the requirement that cards be carried, said: "[The Chinese covered by the Act] are here ticket-of-leave men; precisely as, under the Australian law, a convict is allowed to go at large upon a ticket-of-leave, these people are to be allowed to go at large and earn their livelihood, but they must have their tickets-of-leave in their possession. . . This inaugurates in our system of government a new departure; one, I believe never before practised, although it was suggested in conference that some such rules had been adopted in slavery times to secure the peace of society."

99 30

For many years bills have been regularly presented to every Congress providing for registration of aliens. Some of these bills proposed annual registration of aliens, issuance of identification cards containing information about and a photograph of the bearer, exhibition of the cards on demand, payment of an annual fee, and kindred requirements.31 Opposition to these bills was based upon charges that their requirements were at war with the fundamental principles of our free government, in that they would bring about unnecessary and irritating restrictions upon personal liberties of the individual, and would subject aliens to a system of indiscriminate questioning similar to the espionage systems existing in other lands.a2

30

20 Quoted in Fong Yue Ting v. United States, supra, 743.

"1 E. g., H. R. 9101 and H. R. 9147, 71st Cong., 2nd Session; see 72 Cong. Rec. 3886.

The requirement that cards be carried and exhibited has always been regarded as one of the most objectionable features of proposed registration systems, for it is thought to be a feature that best lends itself to tyranny and intimidation. Congressman Celler, speaking in

When Congress passed the Alien Registration Act of 1940, many of the provisions which had been so severely criticized were not included. The Congressional purpose, as announced by the chairman of the Senate subcommittee which drafted the final bill, was to "work . . the new provisions into the existing [immigration and naturalization] laws, so as to make a harmonious whole." 34 That "harmonious whole" included the "Uniform Rule of Naturalization" the Constitution empow

1928 of the repeated defeat of registration bills and of an attempt by the Secretary of Labor to require registration of incoming aliens by executive order, said: "But here is the real vice of the situation and the core of the difficulty: "The admitted alien,' as the order states, 'should be cautioned to present [his card] for inspection if and when subsequently requested so to do by an officer of the Immigration Service.'" 70 Cong. Rec. 190.

33 Congressman Smith, who introduced the original of the bill that as finally adopted became the 1940 Act, said in Committee: "The drafting of the bill is . . . a codification of measures that have been offered from time to time. . . . I have tried to eliminate from the bills that have been offered on the subject those which seemed to me would cause much controversy." Hearings before Subcommittee No. 3 of the House Judiciary Committee, H. R. 5138, April 12, 1939, p. 71.

"Cong. Rec., June 15, 1940, p. 12620. Senator Connally made this statement in explaining why it had been found necessary to substitute a new bill for the bill originally sent to the Senate by the House. In detailing the care that had been taken in the drafting of the new measure, he said: "We regretted very much that we had to discard entirely the bill passed by the House and substitute a new bill after the enacting clause. However, we called in Mr. Murphy, of the Drafting Service, who worked with us some 2 weeks every day . . . We called on the Department of Justice, and had the Solicitor General with us. We called in the Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization, and together we went over all the existing laws, and worked the new provisions into the existing laws, so as to make a harmonious whole." This Senate version was substantially the Act as finally adopted; the alien registration provisions are title III of a broader Act dealing with deportable offenses and advocacy of disloyalty in the armed forces.

ered the Congress to provide.35 And as a part of that "harmonious whole," under the federal Act aliens need not carry cards, and can only be punished for wilful failure to register.36 Further, registration records and fingerprints must be kept secret and cannot be revealed except to agencies such as a state-upon consent of the Commissioner and the Attorney General.

We have already adverted to the conditions which make the treatment of aliens, in whatever state they may be located, a matter of national moment. And whether or not registration of aliens is of such a nature that the Constitution permits only of one uniform national system, it cannot be denied that the Congress might validly conclude that such uniformity is desirable. The legislative history of the Act indicates that Congress was trying to steer a middle path, realizing that any registration requirement was a departure from our traditional policy of not treating aliens as a thing apart, but also feeling that the Nation was in need of the type of information to

35

In Federalist paper No. 42, the reasons for giving this power to the federal government are thus explained: "By the laws of several States, certain descriptions of aliens, who had rendered themselves obnoxious, were laid under interdicts inconsistent not only with the rights of citizenship but with the privilege of residence. What would have been the consequence, if such persons, by residence or otherwise, had acquired the character of citizens under the laws of another State . . .? Whatever the legal consequences might have been, other consequences would probably have resulted, of too serious a nature not to be provided against. The new Constitution has accordingly, with great propriety, made provision against them, and all others proceeding from the defect of the Confederation on this head, by authorizing the general government to establish a uniform rule of naturalization throughout the United States."

"That the Congressional decision to punish only wilful transgressions was deliberate rather than inadvertent is conclusively demonstrated by the debates on the bill. E. g., Cong. Rec., June 15, 1940, p. 12621. And see note 37, infra.

37

be secured. Having the constitutional authority so to do, it has provided a standard for alien registration in a single integrated and all-embracing system in order to obtain the information deemed to be desirable in connection with aliens. When it made this addition to its uniform naturalization and immigration laws, it plainly manifested a purpose to do so in such a way as to protect the personal liberties of law-abiding aliens through one uniform national registration system, and to leave them free from the possibility of inquisitorial practices and police surveillance that might not only affect our international relations but might also generate the very disloyalty which the law has intended guarding against. Under these circumstances, the Pennsylvania Act cannot be enforced. Accordingly, the judgment below is

MR. JUSTICE STONE, dissenting:

Affirmed.

I think the judgment below should be reversed. Undoubtedly Congress, in the exercise of its power to legislate in aid of powers granted by the Constitution to the national government may greatly enlarge the exercise of federal authority and to an extent which need not now be defined, it may, if such is its will, thus subtract from the powers which might otherwise be exercised by

"Congressman Celler, ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee which reported out the bill, said in stating his intention of voting for the 1940 Act: "Mr. Speaker, judging the temper of the Nation, I believe this compromise report is the best to be had under the circumstances and I shall vote for it . . . Furthermore, I think the conferees have done a good job because the punishment is not too great... There must be proof . . . that the alien willfully refuses to register . . . I drew the minority report against this bill originally, because it provided some very harsh provisions against aliens. Some of the harshness and some of the severity of the original bill have been eliminated . . . I must admit that it is the best to be had under the circumstances." Cong. Rec., June 22, 1940, pp. 13468-9.

the states. Assuming, as the Court holds, that Congress could constitutionally set up an exclusive registration system for aliens, I think it has not done so and that it is not the province of the courts to do that which Congress has failed to do.

At a time when the exercise of the federal power is being rapidly expanded through Congressional action, it is difficult to overstate the importance of safeguarding against such diminution of state power by vague inferences as to what Congress might have intended if it had considered the matter or by reference to our own conceptions of a policy which Congress has not expressed and which is not plainly to be inferred from the legislation. which it has enacted. Cf. Graves v. O'Keefe, 306 U. S. 466, 479, 480, 487. The Judiciary of the United States should not assume to strike down a state law which is immediately concerned with the social order and safety of its people unless the statute plainly and palpably violates some right granted or secured to the national government by the Constitution or similarly encroaches upon the exercise of some authority delegated to the United States for the attainment of objects of national

concern.

The opinion of the Court does not deny, and I see no reason to doubt that the Pennsylvania registration statute, when passed, was a lawful exercise of the constitutional power of the state. With exceptions not now material it requires aliens resident in the state, who have not declared their intention to become citizens, to register annually, to pay a registration fee of $1.00, and to carry a registration identification card. It affords to the state a convenient method of ascertaining the number and whereabouts of aliens within the state, which it is entitled to know, and a means of their identification. It is an available aid in the enforcement of a number of statutes of the state applicable to aliens whose constitu