CERTIFICATES CAN IDENTIFY MEMBERS

National JACL Officers Devise Plan For Protection Of All; Should Act Soon; Chapters To Conduct Program

MAY RENOUNCE DUAL CITIZENSHIP

SAN FRANCISCO. -- With the double purpose of providing for an absolute means of identification for its members and a means of renouncing dual citizenship, the national JACL is issuing forms for Certificates of Identification which may be filled out, and will afford protection in the future.

The section stating the purpose of the action is presented herewith. The various chapters have been or will be provided with the full forms, where they may be consulted. Due to the emergency, the national officers ask members to act promptly. With such documents, members should avoid trouble. Following is the first section giving principal points in the manual:

SEC. I. Purpose.

(a) The National Headquarters of the JACL is issuing a Certificate of Identification for the purpose of providing the members with an identification card which may prove useful in the present emergency.

(b) In most cases, birth certificates, in and of themselves, are not sufficient to prove citizenship. They merely certify that a particular person was born at a particular place on a particular date. Generally, additional proof that the person so named in the birth certificate is the person displaying the document is required. To furnish this necessary collaborating and supporting evidence is the purpose of this project. The photograph and the fingerprint serve as identifying features of the Certificate. Additional features include certification of membership in the League by the local chapter president and secretary; a thumbnail description of the members; The Japanese American creed; and the Oath of Allegiance together with the signature and address of the members. This Identification does not replace the birth certificate; both should be carried on the person at all times.

(c) The Oath of Allegiance, which is included in the Certificate, must first be formally subscribed and sworn to before a Notary Public, who will notarize printed copies of the above, before the Certificate proper may be issued to the member. Should the member so desire, he may record a printed and notarized copy of the Oath with the County Clerk of his county. One copy, complete in all details, should be filed with National Headquarters, 2031 Bush Street, San Francisco, Calif., for reference and for the protection of the member immediately after the registration for the chapter has been completed.

(d) The local chapter officers should investigate the procedure and costs for the recording of such protective documents in their county and be prepared to advise their members on this matter.

(e) To avoid expense, it is suggested that the copy to be filed with the National Headquarters be stamped as to the Notary, etc. The copy to be recorded with the County Clerk must be properly notarized and complete in all details.

(f) In view of the great stress placed on the matter of dual citizenship and inasmuch as there are no official or governmental channels now open for repudiating Japan's citizenship which we knowing or unknowingly held. National Headquarters has worked out this method as the best possible way to not only reaffirm one's own allegiance to the United States, but also to renounce and forswear any other allegiance which we might have held heretofore. The very fact that one's oath was notarized and recorded speaks volumes for the spirit in which it was done. So that those who seek proper credentials may be acquainted with the stand which you have taken on this matter, this same oath is printed in the Certificate of Identification.

(g) Although the Oath is worded to include persons with dual citizenship status, it will in no way jeopardize the position of those who have never held such a status or who have officially completed such steps for expatriation and have documentary proof of such action. Many Japanese Americans technically have dual citizenship without knowing it. To clear up any confusion regarding one's status was a primary reason for the issuance of the Oath.