Welch Repatriation Bill (also known as the Filipino Repatriation Act of 1935)
The Filipino Repatriation Act of 1935 called for the United States government to pressure Filipinos to return to the Philippines by offering them free passage back to their native country. Under the Filipino Repatriation Act of 1935, Filipinos could leave the United States with free transportation and were subject to the quota system established by the Tydings-McDuffie Act of 1934 if they intended to re-enter the U.S. Family reunification was halted, keeping many Filipinos waiting for years to see family members.
A legal change occurred in 1943 allowing Filipinos in the U.S. to lease land, most of which had been owned by Japanese Americans who were in internment camps. In the 3 October 1938 issue of TIME Magazine, an article entitled "Philippine Flop" reported that 1,900 Filipinos had returned to the Philippines. Ultimately, the repatriation program was declared unconstitutional in 1940, after some 2,190 Filipinos had returned to the Philippines (my father, Martino, and his family among them). Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filipino_Repatriation_Act_of_1935"
To see the full-text of the Tydings-Mc Duffie Act, click here: http://www.chanrobles.com/tydingsmcduffieact.htm
To view the 3 October 1938 TIME Magazine article, click here: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,760236,00.html
The full-text of the Welch Repatriation Act of 1935 is below:
On May 20, 1935, the House of Representatives of the United States, after suspending House Rules by the necessary two-thirds vote, passed the bill introduced by Representative Welch of California on March 6, 1935. A copy of the bill as passed is as follows:
H.R. 6464, A BILL
To provide means by which certain Filipinos can emigrate from the United States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled. That any Filipino residing in any State or the District of Columbia on effective date of this Act, who desire to return to the Philippine Islands, may apply to the Secretary of Labor, upon such forms as the Secretary may prescribe, through any officer of the Immigration Service for the benefits of this act. Upon approval of such application, the Secretary of Labor shall notify such Filipino forthwith, and shall certify to the Secretary of Navy and the Secretary of War that such Filipino is eligible to be returned to the Philippine Islands under the terms of this act. Every Filipino who is so certified shall be entitled, at the expense of the United States, to transportation and maintenance from his present residence to a port on the west coast of the United States, and from such port, to passage and maintenance to the port of Manila, Philippine Islands, on either Navy or Army transports is available, or on any ship of United States registry operated by a commercial steamship company which has a contract with the Secretary of Labor as provided in Section 2.
Sec. 2—The Secretary of Labor is hereby authorized and directed to enter into contracts with any railroad or other transportation company, for the transportation form their present residence to a port on the west coast of the United States of Filipinos eligible under section 1 to receive such transportation, and with any commercial steamship company, controlled by citizens of the United States and operating ships under United States registry, for transportation and maintenance for such Filipinos from such ports to the port of Manila, Philippine Islands, at such rates as may be agreed upon between the Secretary and such steamship, railroad, or other transportation company.
Sec. 3—The Secretary of Labor is authorized and directed to prescribe such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out this Act, to enter into the necessary arrangement with the Secretary of War and the Secretary of Navy, to fix the ports on the west coast of the United States from which any Filipinos shall be transported and the dates upon which transportation shall be available from such ports, to provide for the identification of Filipinos entitled to the benefits of this Act, and to prevent voluntary interruption of the journey between any port on the west coast of the United States and the port of Manila, Philippine Islands.
Sec. 4—No Filipino who receives the benefits of this Act shall be entitled to return to the continental United States.
Sec. 5—There is hereby authorized to be appropriated from moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, amounts necessary to carry out the provisions in this Act. All amounts so appropriated shall be administered by the Secretary of Labor, and all expenses, including those incurred by the Navy and War Departments, shall be charged thereto.
Sec. 6—No application for the benefits of this Act shall be accepted by any officer of the Immigration Service after December 1, 1936; and all benefits under this Act shall finally terminate on December 31, 1936, unless the journey has been started on or before that date, in which case the journey to Manila shall be completed.
Sec. 7—Nothing in this Act shall be construed as authority to deport any native of the Philippine Islands, and no Filipino removed from the continental United States under the provisions of this Act shall hereafter be held to have been deported from the United States.
[printed in full in the Philippine-American Chronicle (Seattle) on July 15, 1935. Special thanks to Raché Stotts-Johnson for providing me with a reprint of this article.]
