United States. Bureau of Immigration

President Roosevelt is somewhat surprised by the news Nicholas Murray Butler shares with him about the immigration service. While he was aware of the testimony surrounding the inefficiency of New York Superintendent of Immigration Thomas Fitchie, he had received the impression that Edward F. McSweeney was corrupt and that Terence Vincent Powderly was a good man, and asks to see the letter Butler has that argues to the contrary. Roosevelt hopes to find a good man to succeed Fitchie, and has been considering John McMackin, currently chief of the labor bureau at Albany.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1901-10-09

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Howard Metcalf writes to Benjamin F. Barnes acknowledging receipt of a letter from Governor Odell of New York. Metcalf summarizes Odell’s letter. The letter is about friction between officials at Ellis Island and the State Board of Alienists of New York.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-12-21

Creator(s)

Metcalf, Victor Howard, 1853-1936

John Appleton Stewart has asked that John J. D. Trenor be appointed to the Immigration Bureau. In order to give him the requested position, President Roosevelt must waive an unspecified rule.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-12-17

Creator(s)

Unknown

Commissioner General of Immigration Sargent informs Secretary of the Treasury Shaw that he has brought charges against Chinese Inspector Ralph Izard and is seeking his dismissal from service for the Bureau of Immigration.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-01-12

Creator(s)

Presidential Office Staff

President Roosevelt has demanded the resignation of Edward F. McSweeney, Assistant Commissioner of Immigration at New York. Henry Loomis Nelson argues that this demand is a great injustice and reviews the McSweeney case.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-04-05

Creator(s)

Nelson, Henry Loomis, 1846-1908

Theodore Roosevelt writes to Commissioner William Williams about the racial designations on the back of the blank immigration forms he sent. He wonders why immigrants from Cuba and the West Indies are designated as separate races and compares it to the way Russia classifies its immigrants.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-07-07

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Theodore Roosevelt will read David Healy’s article with interest. He agrees with Healy about the bars and thinks his suggestion about transferring the Bureau of Immigration to the State Department has merit.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-02-28

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt tells Hawaii Territory Governor Carter to proceed as he has been with immigration. Roosevelt says that Commissioner General of Immigration Frank P. Sargent is pleased with Carter’s work, and he does not need to change anything unless contributions were coming from corporations instead of individuals.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-04-02

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt directs Commissioner of Labor Neill to cooperate with Commissioner-General of Immigration Frank P. Sargent in order to conduct a thorough investigation of immigration. While investigations abroad will necessarily be done by the Bureau of Immigration through its agents, Roosevelt wishes for the Bureau of Immigration and the Bureau of Labor to cooperate closely in the domestic investigation. He directs them to “carefully avoid all unnecessary publicity,” and to “consider it a confidential investigation for my use.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-06-28

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt suggests to Speaker of the House Cannon that if there should be a governmental investigation into immigration, that it would be better to have it done with the assistance of Commissioner General of Immigration Frank P. Sargent, and possibly with the further help of Commissioner of Labor Charles Patrick Neill. Roosevelt believes it would be difficult for a Congressional Committee to deal with such a large subject and get good results working by themselves. He suggests that the bureaus of immigration and labor conduct the investigation to gather facts, and then present those facts to the Congressional Committee to discuss.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-06-27

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt asks Secretary of Commerce and Labor Metcalf to direct the Bureau of Immigration to make a report regarding the actions of the Austro-Hungarian Government regarding immigration to the United States. Roosevelt has been approached on behalf of some American steamship companies regarding the situation and wonders whether there is any action that needs to be taken. He additionally asks Metcalf about a report by Marcus Braun, former Inspector of Immigration in New York.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-05-28

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt asks Ralph M. Easley, Jeremiah Whipple Jenks, and James Bronson Reynolds to investigate the United States Bureau of Immigration, especially regrading its connection with the Chinese boycott of American goods. He authorizes them to speak with any government employee who has pertinent information and promises protection from retaliation for anyone who speaks the truth.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-02-24

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt tells Thomas C. Friedlander that the cause of the Chinese boycott is unjust and unfair provisions of the Chinese Exclusion Act and onerous immigration laws. Roosevelt and the State Department have made reforms in the Bureau of Immigration to help the situation, but the boycott’s root cause cannot be dealt with any further unless Congress passes legislation. He tells Friedlander that members of the Merchants Exchange should lobby their Congressmen to pass such a law.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-11-23

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt directs Secretary of Commerce and Labor Metcalf that if the Bureau of Immigration finds an excessive number of certificates seem to be being wrongly issued to Chinese immigrants, the case should be reported to Roosevelt at once for investigation and, if applicable, punishment.

In a handwritten note, Roosevelt directs that Chinese immigrants with wrongly issued certificates are not to be sent back, but that the issuing official should be punished.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-06-29

The enclosed telegram from Ambassador Lloyd Carpenter Griscom, asking if immigration officials will cause problems for members of the Japanese peace delegation, strikes President Roosevelt as the “most severe commentary on the methods of the immigration officials in connection with Oriental peoples.” He wishes to speak with Secretary of Commerce and Labor Metcalf before Metcalf leaves for California in order to draft a circular with instructions for Bureau of Immigration officers regarding their conduct relating to Chinese and Japanese travelers.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-06-19

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt instructs Secretary of Commerce and Labor Metcalf to issue “specific and rigid instructions” to officials of the Bureau of Immigration that the government will not tolerate discourtesy or harsh treatment towards Chinese merchants, travelers, or students. Roosevelt has been concerned with how the law has been applied for some time, especially regarding its application in San Francisco, and because of some recent actions by Commissioner of Immigration Hart Hyatt North.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-06-16

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt writes to Mary Elizabeth Blampey Trautmann and encloses fifty dollars which she is to give to Clara A. Cooper for her “immediate necessities.” President Roosevelt asks Trautmann to follow up with him concerning an employment position with Dr. Darlington, and if that is not successful, then he will try to get a position for her at the Immigration Bureau.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-05-19

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt is not interested in meeting with Terence Powderly or Edward McSweeney and simply wants a change throughout the entire immigration office.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-03-29

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt is unsure whether Terence Vincent Powderly or Edward F. McSweeney is to blame for the condition of affairs at the New York Immigration Office. Roosevelt is leaning towards keeping Powderly and letting McSweeney go.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-03-28

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt asks Nicholas Murray Butler his opinion on potential appointees to the United States Immigration Bureau. Roosevelt believes there needs to be radical change in the bureau.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1901-11-22

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919