In re Elliott

• Decision Date: 12 February 1920
• Citation: 263 F. 143
• Parties: In re ELLIOTT.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Texas

263 F. 143

In re ELLIOTT.

United States District Court, S.D. Texas.

February 12, 1920

M. H Antonio, of San Antonio, Tex., Naturalization Examiner, for the United States.

HUTCHESON District Judge.

In this cause the petition shows the applicant was born on January 22, 1870, in Ireland; that he emigrated from Ireland in 1882 arriving in the United States during the same year; that he is a resident of San Diego, Duval county, state of Texas, in the Southern district, Corpus Christi division; and that he has resided continuously in the United States, in the state of Texas, since September 14, 1913.

The petitioner is properly vouched for as to witnesses, as to character, and as to residence; but his petition is not supported by the certificate of landing required by the fourth paragraph of the second subdivision of section 4 of the Act of June 29, 1906 (Comp. St. Sec. 4352). The want of this certificate is the ground of the government's objection to the admission of Dr. Elliott; the government contending that petitioner arrived in the United States after the passage of that act, and the petitioner contending that he arrived before.

If the government's contention is correct, then under the authority of United States v. Ness, 245 U.S. 319, 38 Sup.Ct. 118, 62 L.Ed. 321, petitioner's application must be denied. The evidence on this point shows that Dr. Elliott emigrated from Ireland in 1882, arriving in the United States in the same year, and that he continued to reside here until 1896, without, however, making a declaration of intention, or taking any steps to become a citizen; that in 1896 he left the United States for Mexico, where until 1913 he maintained his home and engaged in the practice of medicine. In 1913 he returned to the United States, since which date he has resided here continuously, has made his declaration of intention, and stands before this court in all respects qualified, if a certificate of arrival is not a requisite to his petition.

During the period of his residence in Mexico he owned property in the United States, his daughter was educated here, he came to and from the states with some frequency, and his wife made frequent protracted visits here. He calls attention to the fact that he had served as a sort of consular agent for the United States during part of the time he lived in Mexico, and on one or two occasions was instrumental in saving the lives of American citizens. The...