S pr in g 2 0 1 7 Vol ume 1 0 9 /N umber 1

Lets stay connected:

POINT OF ACCESS Facebook.com/seamenschurch

T
The Jacobs Ladder, used to board a ship from a pilot boat, is a terrifying prospect for most Twitter @seamenschurch
land-dwellers. Even a regular gangway, which is the point of access for most container ships
at dock, is daunting with its steep aluminum steps and slick, swaying handrail. Access to a
towboat has just as many challenges: often a small skiff is used to reach the boat in question, In this issue
before embarking onto the towboat itselfa precarious step!
If you wanted to support a seafarer in person, these are just some of the obstacles you would face. ISO 9001
Directors Log Certification
Thankfully, supporting the Seamens Church Institute (SCI) means you dont have to climb
those ladders, board those skiffs or face the unpredictable weather. Its what our chaplains in

2 5
Port Newark and along Americas inland waterways do most every day, and they wouldnt
have it any other way. The joy of giving to SCI is that you can trust us to take on those
challenges on your behalf. We make the physical connection so you dont have to.
SS El Faro CSR
Since 1834, SCI has built relationships with the men and women of the maritime.
Case Study
We are privileged to interact with seafarers and tow-boaters on a daily basis, and not

3
only them, but also their employers, their families and their friends; the knitters

6
who support them each Christmas (and all through the year!); the veterans of
the merchant marines who have strong memories of their time at sea or on the
river. There are so many different people who make up the SCI family, and Immigration
each of the ties we have is special. Policy Volunteer
John Burke
We would love to know more about your SCI the reason you received
this newsletter. How did you become a part of the SCI family? Are you a
recent arrival or an old-timer? A knitter, a donor, or a volunteer? Did
you once sail and receive a hand-knit hat from Christmas at Sea or
4 6
were you introduced to SCI by a friend or colleague who brought Mountain
you to an event? Your story is important to us. You are with Challenge Big Ship
us each time we climb the gangway and greet a mariner. We Ready!
gather strength from your commitment to SCI and we know
with each handshake, every time we listen to a mariner or
share a story we are representing you our supporter.
5 7
Last year, we encouraged you to see the connection
in your daily life with the maritime. For 2017, were
asking you to take that one step further and share Founded in 1834, the
your connection tell us and tell others about
your story with SCI. Institute is a voluntary,
ecumenical agency
Thank you!
affiliated with the
Episcopal Church that
provides pastoral care,
maritime education, and
legal and advocacy
services for mariners.

The Seamens Church Institute seamenschurch.org

 Executive Directors Log
Dear Friends,
At SCI, we embrace the future by building on the successes of the past. In all areas of our
work chaplaincy, advocacy, and maritime education SCI strives to improve upon
what has gone before, adapt to an ever-changing industry, and strengthen the goal of
serving mariners as our top priority.
We do this by putting measures in place to ensure future excellence. Recently, SCIs
Center for Maritime Education received the ISO 9001:2015 Quality Systems Standard.
Passing rigorous third-party audits at its facilities in Houston, TX and Paducah, KY,
CME became the first maritime training center in the United States to receive this
certification. SCI has empowered mariners with professional training since 1899, and
this latest achievement signifies both our excellence in service and our commitment to
continuous improvement.
Pastoral services are thriving. If you follow our activities on Facebook, you know that
Chaplain James Kollin visits ships in Port Newark and recently provided vital pastoral
care to a crew whose crewmate died in an accident en route to the US. On page 3 of this
newsletter Chaplain Kempton Baldridge tells us about how he recently stepped into the
breach to support the families of those lost on the SS El Faro by attending the official
hearings into the tragedy.
Looking to build the future generation of maritime attorneys, our Center for Seafarers
Rights continues to educate young lawyers and represent seafarers in many places around
the world. Already in 2017, Douglas Stevenson taught students at the International
Maritime Law Institute in Malta on the intricacies of the Maritime Labour
Convention (MLC, 2006), presented a paper at the international Wellness at
SCI SUSTAINING Sea conference in Singapore, and trained USCG marine inspection officers
SPONSORS in Staten Island.
SCIs commitment to providing advocacy for seafarers remains paramount.
Dougs case study on page 6 explores this crucial element of our mandate
to empower and inform mariners as they negotiate all aspects of
their employment.
The highly-anticipated third SCI Mountain Challenge gets underway
this September. The event gives participants the opportunity to test
their stamina, team-work, and perseverance in activities inspired by the
challenges faced by mariners, while simultaneously raising money for SCI and
Spring 2017 Volume 109/Number 1 our programs.
Published by As we serve mariners in 2017, SCI builds upon 183 years of mission made
The Seamens Church Institute possible by strong relationships with our trustees, donors and friends.
By coming alongside us, whether its participating in SCI Mountain
seamenschurch.org Challenge, supporting those who
do, volunteering your time, or
212-349-9090 giving financially, you help us shape
fax: 212-349-8342 the future for the mariners we
sci@seamenschurch.org serve. Thanks for your prayers and
Richard T. du Moulin generous support.
Chairman, Board of Trustees Yours faithfully,
The Rev. David M. Rider
President and Executive Director

Editor, Naomi Walker

Design & Production, Bliss Design The Rev. David M. Rider
The Lookout is printed on recycledpaper. President & Executive Director

2 The Seamens Church Institute The Lookout Spring 2017


Standing by to assist
families of the SS El Faro
by the Rev. Kempton D. Baldridge
JACKSONVILLE, FL
Recently, I attended the
hearings on the loss of the SS El
Faro on October 1, 2015, held
by the Coast Guard Marine
Board of Investigation and the
National Transportation Safety
Board (NTSB). While there,
a reporter in the press section
made her way to where I was seated
with family members of the ships crew.
She introduced herself, presented her
business card, and inquired, If you
dont mind my asking, what is it that
brings you here? Whats your role?
I explained to her that just hours after
SS El Faro went missing, the Seamens
Church Institute (SCI) began to
mobilize its resources in response
to this latest crisis at sea, just as it
has since 1834. Since that day, Ive
been tasked with
overseeing SCIs
pastoral care for
those affected by the
SS El Faro sinking,
I explained.
A week earlier, Doug
Stevenson (Director
of SCIs Center for
Seafarers Rights)
emailed the El Faro
families to alert them
of my presence and
availability during
the first week of
the hearings. Once
there, I told those
seated near me that
I was happy to pray
with them, lead a
Bible study, conduct
counseling, make
airport runs, give
rides to or from hotels, or whatever
they or the other families might need.
One of the simplest ways I served
over the course of the hearings was to
compile and distribute a glossary of
terms, an aid for those unaccustomed
seamenschurch.org The Lookout
to the acronyms, technical terms,
or maritime industry jargon that
frequently formed a part of the
discourse taking place.
As the week progressed and my
rapport with El Faro families grew, the
needs I was able to serve expanded
considerably. The most substantive
need a chaplain could address involved
that key pastoral ability: listening.
Its not easy to remain fully present
with someone whose story involves
the pain of such loss. Many people
wont speak of their paralyzing fears,
secret loneliness, smoldering anger or
deep sadness because they think no
one will listen. I believe the ability
to do just that listen, and listen
well embodies the essence of
pastoral ministry.
Through listening, for example,
I learned from the mother of one
El Faro crewmember how she met
and fell in love with her sons father
in the unlikeliest of places Navy
bootcamp. Her husband was the love
The El Faro Relief Fund was established
by SCI shortly after the October 1, 2015
tragic loss of the SS El Faro with all 33
souls aboard. Through December 31, 2016,
generous contributions totaling in excess
of $606,000 were received by the Fund and
nearly $456,000 has been distributed to date
through approved grant applications to those
crewmembers families and dependents who
were affected by the tragedy.
On March 1, 2017, the Relief Fund ceased
accepting grant applications for financial
assistance to families and dependents for
their short-term basic needs. Pending final
accounting and review of applications, SCI
will distribute any remaining monies to 529
education saving plans (named after the IRS
code addressing such accounts) for dependent
children of the seafarers lost on the El Faro.
of her life, but he died one month
before the El Faro tragedy that claimed
the life of their much-loved only son.
Her family now consists of a grown
daughter and the other loved ones of
the El Faro 33.
Together, we listened to nine hours
of testimony each day. The witnesses
included former El Faro crewmembers
and officers, expert witnesses, current
and former TOTE company officials,
Coast Guard inspectors, and ABS
representatives among others.
As a focused listener I happily joined
family members for coffee, lunches,
and dinner. During one of these
informal times, the father of an El Faro
crewmember, a pastor at a Jacksonville
church, sought my help in planning
a maritime-themed summer camp for
middle-schoolers as a memorial to
his late son. He was so excited by our
dinner together he said hes sure God
put us together. Ive kept the message
he left on my voicemail.
Besides strengthening my existing
friendship with three of the El Faro
families, my days at the hearings
allowed me to connect with nine
additional El Faro family members.
When I left the hearings at the end
of Day 4, my heart sank as I said
my good-byes, but I was buoyed
by the new bonds of affection that
had formed.
Spring 2017 3
 U.S. Immigration Policys Impact on Seafarers:
A Brief History
by Johnathan Thayer, Senior Archivist, The Seamens Church Institute
The Executive Order (E.O.) signed by President Trump on March 6, 2017 issued a suspension of entry into the United States
for citizens of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. Recently, the Director of the Seamens Church Institutes
Center for Seafarers Rights, Douglas B. Stevenson Esq., has confirmed with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that
seafarers without visas from the six banned countries will not be allowed shore leave, nor be signed off their vessels.
Such measures that bar foreign
seafarers from entering U.S. ports
have long historical precedents.
For context, we can turn to the
Immigration Acts of 1917 and 1924,
and the dragnet alien seamen raids
of 1931.
Historical context
During and following World War I,
increasingly restrictive immigration
policies were fueled by racism,
economic concerns over foreign labor
competition, and widespread fears
of radical politics
infiltrating the U.S.
from Southern and
Eastern European
nations. The Johnson-
Reed Act of 1924, in
addition to excluding
immigration from
most of the Asian
continent entirely,
established quotas
for all immigrants
based on a hierarchy
of selective inclusion
determined by
nationality and
ethnicity. Whereas
the typical entry
process for non-citizen
migrants took place
at official inspection
centers like Ellis
Island in New York and Angel Island
in San Francisco, merchant seamen
were subject to inspections on board
their vessels, but only to check for
infectious diseases and other mental
or physical ailments. In all other
respects, the burden of proof for the
legitimacy of a ships crew list resided
fully with an appointed ships officer.
Growing suspicion
Given the porous state of
inspections involving merchant
vessels and seamen, it is hardly
surprising that in 1924 alone the
U.S. Labor Secretary estimated
that 38,000 merchant seamen, or
those impersonating merchant
seamen, had deserted their vessels
in American ports. While shipping
company officials maintained that
as much as seventy-five percent of
these desertions involved men who
were intent on reshipping
out on different vessels, as
was within their rights to
shore leave as guaranteed
under the 1915 Seamens
Act, immigration officials
and Congressmen on the
Committee on Immigration
and Naturalization were far
more suspicious.
Merchant ships and the
impersonation of seamen
remained a viable and fluid
channel for entering the
country while circumventing
much of the official
encounter with the state
required of other non-
seaman immigrants until
1931. In March of that year,
responding to a Supreme
Court ruling that had
granted wide license for the mass
deportation of alien seamen, the
Labor Department issued a decree
calling for local agencies to prepare
for the deportation of up to 100,000
merchant seamen who were believed
to have deserted in American ports
and who were supposedly residing in
the country illegally.
Immigration raids in NYC
In New York, the Bureau of Criminal
Alien Investigation at the New York
Police Department conducted a
warrantless raid at the headquarters
of the Seamens Church Institute
(SCI), located in the heart of the
Citys Lower Manhattan port district.
In 1931, 25 South Street was the
declared permanent residence of
more than 5,000 merchant seamen
who were out of work and forced to
remain in New York City due to the
lack of employment opportunities in
a severely slumping shipping industry.
Seamen who claimed 25 South
Street as their home included men
who paid nominal fees to rent out
one of the more than five hundred
dormitory-style rooms houses within
the buildings thirteen floors, or those
who had taken out post office boxes
at SCIs thriving postal office. This
cluster of merchant seamenmany
of them foreign nationals, whether
naturalized or residing in the country
illegallyrepresented a prime target
for immigration officials under orders
to clean up the nations waterfronts.
The actual raid took place on the
morning of February 3, 1931, with
102 men detained at 25 South
Street and sent for processing at
Ellis Island. A similar raid had
taken place in Hoboken, NJ just
days earlier on January 27, in which
some 300 seamen, mostly German,
were detained and interrogated. 63
men were sent to Ellis Island facing
deportation charges. Most of the
detainees faced similar charges of
illegally gaining entry into the U.S.
via merchant vessels. Similar raids
continued to occur in New York City
during the early months of 1931,
continued on page 8

4 The Seamens Church Institute The Lookout Spring 2017


T
2017 SCI Mountain
Challenge
A test of endurance inspired by mariners
The highly-anticipated third SCIMountain Challenge
takes place September 28 October 1, 2017 in the
mountains of Western Maine.
Teams competing in the Challenge will confront many
of the hardships mariners experience on a daily basis: the
elements (facing northern New Englands notoriously
unpredictable weather), isolation (teams work self-
sufficiently on the mountain and water race courses) and
physically demanding work (participants ascend over
3,000 feet each day).
The 2017 SCI Mountain Challenge offers competitors
two course choices of varied difficulty and length
(Varsity and Junior Varsity). New to the Challenge this
year is a paddling element on
the Androscoggin River. A full
course description is available
at scimountainchallenge.com.
In addition to the physical test of
endurance, SCI challenges each
team to raise at least $3,000 for the
Institutes mariner support services.
Performance in the Philanthropy
Challenge, combined with course
times, plays a role in overall team
standings. In 2015, competitors
accepted this challenge and threw
down the gauntlet by raising nearly
$300,000, bringing the overall
fundraising total for this event to
over $500,000 for SCIs valuable
programs serving mariners.
We proudly thank Cargill for partnering with SCI as the
Lead Event Sponsor for the third consecutive Challenge.
Registration is now open for teams and sponsorships.
For more information regarding the event, visit
scimountainchallenge.com, or reach out to us at
scimountainchallenge@seamenschurch.org or
seamenschurch.org
call 212.349.9090.
SCIs CME becomes first
marine training center
in the US to receive
ISO9001 certification
The Seamens Church Institutes (SCI) Center for Maritime
Education (CME) recently passed rigorous third-party audits
at its facilities in Houston, TX and Paducah, KY, contracting
with WCS Quality Registrars, LLC for the evaluation
and certification of its Quality Management System to
ISO 9001:2015. This makes CME the first maritime training
center in the United States to receive ISO 9001 certification.
The ISO 9001 quality management system is recognized by
the USCG as a Quality Systems Standard and significantly
strengthens SCIs multi-faceted maritime education program.
The scope of certification is: the
Provision of Marine Simulator
Training, Online Courses, Marine
Feasibility Studies, Marine Incident
Recreation and Solution Development,
USCG License Assessments, and other
related services and products.
Rick Dunn, president of SafeMariner
LLC, who consulted on the project
said, SCI has taken a major step
forward by putting in place a formal
quality management system that
exceeds what USCG and CME
customers expect. Other stakeholders
such as oil majors and donors can
be confident that CME programs
are best-in-class.
SCIs CME empowers mariners
with valuable training, providing professional advancement
opportunities through SCI-developed and USCG-approved
courses. Instructors train mariners utilizing expertise in adult
education principles and the latest navigation simulation
technology. SCI has more than 20 years of multi-bridge
interactive simulation experience, and their computer simulators
rank top in the world. They challenge mariners reactions and
skills with highly dynamic exercises, interactive and unique to
each mariners judgment and decision-making. CME also offers a
comprehensive catalog of e-learning courses.
SCI has provided professional training for American merchant
mariners since 1899, and now with the ISO 9001 registration
and USCG-recognized Quality Systems Standard, we have the
process in place to increase significantly excellence-in-service
to our customers and to engage in continual improvement,
said Stephen Polk, SCIs Director of Maritime Education. This
registration is not for our benefit, but for the benefit of the
mariners to whom SCI ministers and serves in the wheelhouse
and on the deck.
The Lookout Spring 2017 5
Special Events
Calendar
The 40th Annual Silver Bell
Awards Dinner
Thursday, June 8, 2017
Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers,
New York, NY
6:00 pm Cocktail Reception
7:30 pm Awards Dinner
Honorees:
Dr. James S.C. Chao, Chairman
Foremost Group
Silver Bell Award
Mr. Joe Cox, President Emeritus
Chamber of Shipping of America
Lifetime Achievement Award
Mr. Rick Calhoun, President
Cargill Marine and Terminal
Distinguished Service Award
For more information and to register,
visit seamenschurch.org/sba2017.
SCI Mountain Challenge
September 28 October 1, 2017
Sunday River, ME
visit scimountainchallenge.com
Port Newark
Food Truck Fest
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
SCI International Seafarers Center
Port Newark, NJ
Pilot Boat Harbor Cruise
September, 2017 (date TBD)
New York, NY
Maritime Training
Benefit Luncheon
Thursday, November 2, 2017
Houston, TX
The 17th Annual River Bell
Awards Luncheon
Thursday, December 7, 2017
Paducah, KY
For further details of all our
events, visit
seamenschurch.org/special-events
6 The Seamens Church Institute The Lookout
Center for Seafarers Rights Case Study:
Self-help Rights for Seafarers
by Douglas B. Stevenson, Esq., Director, Center for Seafarers Rights
A seafarer recently emailed me asking for my help in getting home
after his employment contract ended. His problem was that he had
completed his contract two months previously and had still not
been replaced. His ships captain could not tell him when the ship
owner would repatriate him from Africa (where his ship was in port)
to his home in the Philippines. I explained his rights to him, but
he was afraid that if he demanded enforcement of his employment
contract, his crewing agency and shipping company would label him
a troublemaker and blacklist him from future employment. While
I could not give him any assurances about what his crewing agency or shipping company
might do, I was confident that his ships flag state (Liberia) would take appropriate action
against any ship owner who retaliated against a seafarer for lodging a legitimate complaint.
This is because the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (which came into force in 2013,
and has been ratified by 81 countries covering more than 90% of the worlds merchant
fleet) empowers seafarers to report violations directly to their flag state authorities while
remaining under the protection of the convention. Those flag state authorities must then
investigate complaints, and they also must protect seafarers from retaliation. Alternatively,
seafarers can report violations to port state authorities, who similarly must conduct an
initial investigation and protect the seafarers confidentiality.
Of course, these self-help rights are effective only if seafarers know about them and take
advantage of them. Many seafarers remain skeptical of whether flag states will protect them
from retaliation for reporting offenses.
The seafarer in question, who remained reluctant to demand his rights himself, asked me to
intercede on his behalf. The day after I did so, I received the following email from him: Sir
Douglas, I just received my flight details. Im going home tomorrow sir. Thank you very much
I am confident that after his well-deserved vacation, he will be able to return to work
without suffering any retaliation. But, if he does, we at SCIs Center for Seafarers Rights
are standing by to help him.
Volunteer profile: John Burke
International Seafarers Center, Port Newark, NJ
John Burke is from Clark, NJ, and has been volunteering for SCI for five years.
Every Wednesday night he comes to work at the reception desk at the International
Seafarers Center in Port Newark, welcoming seafarers who visit, answering the
phone, and coordinating transportation. John finds it fulfilling and enjoyable to
talk to the seafarers as they come in; he loves finding out about their countries and
backgrounds, and they in turn enjoy talking to him and finding out about life in the U.S. He is
often their first welcome to this country, and thats a special role!
Before volunteering with SCI, John had no direct links with the maritime. He has always loved
the water, and in his younger days he enjoyed racing sailboats up and down the East Coast. When
he first started with SCI he was recently widowed and his daughter had gone off to college, so
with time on his hands he found it was good to get out and meet people through volunteering.
John sees working with SCI as a great opportunity: a lot of people say to me that its so good of
me to volunteer, but I find I get a lot more out of it than what I put into it.
If you would like to volunteer for SCI, contact sci@seamenschurch.org for more details.
Spring 2017
 Why I Give: Deirdre Littlefield

W
hen Deirdre Littlefield first became involved with the Seamens Church Institute
it was because she saw great value in an organization that dedicated all its
efforts to mariners, a neglected group in her eyes. Deirdre has spent her entire
professional career in the marine insurance industry, and says that as a result she has
always valued SCI. Five years ago, Deirdre became an SCI trustee after regularly attending
SCI events and volunteering on event committees.

I saw the way that SCI works on multiple levels with seafarers. The great value of the Institute is that it offers
people what they need, a variety of services that are not one size fits all, but are geared towards the individual.
Deirdre also enjoys the atmosphere at SCI mainstays such as the Silver Bell Awards Dinner fun, energetic gatherings that
bring people from the whole marine industry together in a positive and charitable way.
In addition to volunteering her time on the board, giving to SCIs Annual Fund, and participating on committees, Deirdre has
included SCI in her estate plans. The Institute is now named in a Trust set up by Deirdre and her husband Bob. According to
Deirdre, this was a straightforward and logical decision having been involved with SCI and seeing the impact of our work
for mariners. There are also practical and financial advantages to the plan both for Deirdre and for SCI. I would definitely
recommend it (naming SCI in your Trust) as an easy and stress-free way to include a charitable organization in your estate
plans. It also reduces the burden of decision-making on my loved ones, which in its own right is a preparation worth making.
If you have already included SCI in your estate plans or would like more information about doing so, contact Jennifer Koenig
Breen, Director of Development, at +1 (212) 349-9090.

Big Ship Ready!

In the 1930s the New York harbor
bustled with traffic, and residents
living in the region were starting
to move outward from the city.
The Bayonne Bridge was built as
a link between Staten Island and
Bayonne for those working in lower
Manhattan, replacing a ferry service
between the two states. The bridge
was built with 151 ft. air clearance, which for the next
80 years left plenty of room to accommodate ships sailing
into the still-growing Newark Bay.
Today, Port Newark and Port Elizabeth form a critical
transportation hub, and rank third in North America with
the activity of imports and exports. Container ships bring
us 90% of everything we consumeelectronic devices, cars,
paper, grain, salt, orange juice, and Belgian blocks to name
just a few. Cargo vessels arriving into Port Newark currently
range in size from being able to carry 5,000 TEUs (Twenty
Foot Equivalent Units the average container) to 8,000
TEUs. Now, with the expanded Panama Canal, so-called
New Panamax ships carrying up to 14,500 TEUs, and
ULCVs (Ultra Large Container Vessels) carrying in excess
of 14,500 TEUs have begun transiting the worlds oceans.
The raising of the Bayonne Bridge is part of the preparations
to ensure that the Port of New York and New Jersey is
Big Ship Ready. When complete, the new bridge will have
an air draft of 215 ft. SCI looks forward to welcoming larger
vessels and meeting the needs of seafarers just as we have
done since the 1960s when the first container ships were
docking in Port Elizabeth.
Look for news of the first of these big ships being brought
into dock in Port Newark and Port Elizabeth! They are
anticipated to arrive some time in 2017 Keep an eye on
our Facebook page (facebook.com/seamenschurch) and
Twitter feed (@seamenschurch) and we will let you know as
soon as were made aware of their arrival.
In 2016, SCI chaplains, ship visitors, and hospitality workers
received approximately 16,000 seafarers, port workers
and truckers at the International Seafarers Center at Port
Newark. Visits were made to 1,499 ships with messages of
welcome and thanks from SCI trained staff and volunteers.
Additionally, SCI provided free, reliable transportation for
13,000 seafarers to local shopping areas, or to our Seafarers
Center so they could relax and enjoy some time ashore.
As the age of the New Panamax arrives, SCI looks
towards the future while drawing on a history of long-term
commitment to seafarers wellbeing.

seamenschurch.org The Lookout Spring 2017 7

THE SEAMENS CHURCH INSTITUTE
NONPROFIT ORG.

SCI
The Seamens Church Institute U.S. POSTAGE
50 Broadway, Floor 26
New York, NY 10004 PAID
PERMIT #99
NEW HAVEN, CT
SCI CENTERS: Port Newark, Paducah, Houston

seamenschurch.org
Ways to Give to SCI 
Use the envelope in this Volunteer Follow
Support the people who deliver the edition of The Lookout or mail
your check to TheSeamens SCI offers many ways volunteers Go to facebook.com/
goods that make our modern way
Church Institute, can contribute to the work of seamenschurch and
of life possible. the Institute. Call one of our clicklike.
50 Broadway, Floor 26,
New York, NY 10004. centers or email volunteer@  Follow @seamenschurch
seamenschurch.org. on Twitter.
Donate Call 212-349-9090 and make
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Remember:
a contribution over the phone Collect at flickr.com/photos/
with your credit card. seamenschurch.
Many companies match employee In addition to handknit scarves
donations to eligible nonprofits. Sponsor and hats, SCIs Christmastime And, watch videos from
our work at vimeo.com/
Ask your employer about SCI provides prominent recognition to gift to mariners includes
increasing the value of your gift items found at most ordinary channels/scitv.
its underwriters. Become a corporate
to support mariners. sponsor and link your companys supermarkets donated by people
like you. To find out more, contact Remember SCI in your estate

Donate online at philanthropy with North Americas
cas@seamenschurch.org plans. Email legacygiving@
donate.seamenschurch.org/ largest and most comprehensive or visit ourwebsite. seamenschurch.org for more
give. mariners serviceagency.
information.

U.S. Immigration Policys Impact on Seafarers, continued from page 4

including at a ball held at the Finnish
Workers Education Association, at
which 1,000 men and women were
detained without warrant.
Public opposition
It did not take long before public
backlash mounted against this
proliferation of dragnet-style raids in
which thousands of men and women
were illegally detained under vague
suspicion of having violated terms
of immigration legislation which
may or may not apply to them. The
American Civil Liberties Union
(ACLU) led complaints against these
alien drives, protesting against the
high-handed and unlawful tactics
of immigration agents. By April 1931,
the Labor Department announced the
end of all raids targeting alien seamen
in the nations port cities.
Public opinion had temporarily won
the day. Further protections would
come in 1952, with the creation of
D-1 visas to protect foreign seafarers
right to shore leave while in U.S.
ports, and with the 1965 Immigration
Act, which outlawed discrimination
of immigrants based on national
origin. Despite lingering post World
War II anxieties over alien seamen
and other threats to seafarers access
to shore leave as documented by
CSRs annual Shore Leave Surveys,
the days of ethnic quotas and dragnet
raids along the waterfront seemed to
be well behind us.
Suddenly, this progressive timeline
of protections for foreign seafarers in
U.S. ports no longer seems so stable.
The Seamens Church Institute
will be monitoring this situation
closely, with the long arc of historical
perspective to guide us.

This article contains excerpts from Johnathan Thayer, Deserters, Stowaways, and Mala Fide Seamen: Merchant Seamen and the Shaping of U.S. Immigration Policy,
19171936, chapter four of Sailortowns, Merchant Seamen, and the Shaping of U.S. Citizenship, 18431945

8 The Seamens Church Institute The Lookout Spring 2017