Collections : [University of Michigan Special Collections Research Center]

Group founded in 1933 on the initiative or Roger Baldwin of the ACLU to defend constitutional rights of foreign-born persons in the United States. It assisted individuals facing deportation, aided persons seeking to become naturalized citizens, attempted to combat harasmment and official persecution of the foreign-born, and opposed discriminatory legislation. Records include correspondence, administrative files, clippings and publicity files, subject files and case files.

The records of the American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born date from 1926 to 1980 and measure 51 linear feet and 2 oversized volumes. The papers are arranged in eight series: Administration (1935-1980s), Correspondence (1934-1980s), Publicity/Activities (1934-1977), Legal Proceedings (1950-1974), Legislation (1930-1972), Area/Ethnic Committees (1936-1969), Subject File (1933-ca. 1970s), and Cases (1926-1980s).

The main work of the Committee, in addition to its providing information and legal assistance to individuals, lay in publicizing legislation, events, and national policies affecting the foreign-born. The Committee also sponsored conferences, rallies, and other events to educate the public to the problems of discrimination and harassment that faced many of the foreign-born, and to then mobilize that public opinion to pressure public officials to deal with these problems. The files of publications and news releases within the collection help to document the publicity work of the Committee, while its activities as a lobby for the foreign-born is most evident in the correspondence files, conference proceedings and reports, legislative lobbying material, and subject files.

Unfortunately, the structure and administrative workings of the Committee are poorly documented. Board of directors minutes are spotty and the administrative files generally thin as evidence of policy-making within the organization. Area Committee materials in the main reflect the varied problems faced by the foreign-born in different parts of the country, while the subject file contains information on a wide variety of organizations established to assist the foreign-born in the mid-twentieth century.

The case files, which make up the bulk of the records, relate largely to individual cases; each file usually only contains a few routine items, such as requests for information or assistance in securing naturalization papers or obtaining entry to the United States for a friend or relative. There are a few larger case files, however, and the multiple cases pertaining to groups of individuals being prosecuted reflect the vulnerability of the foreign-born in periods of concern about the nation's internal security. Many of these persons had lived in the United States for many years, and seemed to have been charged with deportation only after becoming active in labor unions or other allegedly radical activities. The case files have little value except as evidence for the specific cases. They do not provide systematic documentation of the cases handled, and thus do not lend themselves to quantitative study.