A-7941616 and A-7941617
Decided by Central Office May 3, 1951
Subversive, proscribed organization — Member of an affiliate of the Communist Party of Russia — Act of 1918, as amended — Service in the armed forces of Russia — (See Interim Decision #255, 4 IN Dec. 336).
Service, whether voluntary or not, in the armed forces of Russia, should not be regarded, of itself, as membership in or affiliation with a proscribed party or organization, so as to constitute a basis for exclusion under the act of 1918, as amended.
EXCLUDED BY BOARD OF SPECIAL INQUIRY:
Act of 1918, as amended — Member of an affiliate of Communist Party of Russia (male appellant).
Act of June 25, 1948, as amended — Not eligible displaced person (female appellant).
BEFORE THE CENTRAL OFFICE
Discussion: The record relates to a 45-year-old married male and his 23-year-old wife, natives and citizens of Russia, who applied for admission into the United States at Munich, Germany, on December 1, 1950, and were held for examination before a board of special inquiry, so that their admissibility under the Displaced Persons Act of 1948, as amended, might be determined. At the conclusion of the hearing on January 2, 1951, they were held to be inadmissible on the grounds stated above and they have appealed from such decision.
The record discloses that the male appellant was drafted into the Russian Army in June 1941 as a result of total mobilization and that he served therein until August 1941 when he was taken a prisoner of war by the Germans. He was a soldier in the infantry.
The male appellant has furthermore testified that his father, who had been a priest, was imprisoned in 1919 as an enemy of the State, that the husband of the male appellant's sister was sent to Siberia and that the male appellant could not study in Russia because he was excluded from the school system. He claims that he never joined a trade union in Russia and was unable to obtain permanent work because he was deemed to be an enemy of the people. He furthermore stated that he never belonged to any organization affiliated with the Communist Party. The female applicant testified that she never belonged to any organization advocating communism, or to any affiliate of the Communist Party.
The issue in this case is whether the male appellant is, because of his service in the Russian Army, inadmissible under the act of October 16, 1918, as amended, as a former member of an organization affiliated with the Communist Party of Russia.
It is our view that service, whether voluntary or not, in the armed forces of Russia, should not be regarded, of itself, as membership in or affiliation with a proscribed party or organization. The male appellant's military service in Russia is therefore not, of itself, a basis for exclusion.
The female appellant has been found inadmissible because of the finding of inadmissibility of the principal applicant. In view of our finding that he is admissible, that ground for exclusion of the female appellant no longer exists.
Order: It is ordered that the appeals be sustained and the applicants be found admissible to the United States upon securing valid replacement visas.