Speech #630379367

President. a moment ago I asked the Senator from Colorado what his opinion is with re spect to excepting from the operation of that provision of the bill now under consideration people who have been persecuted for racial reasons as wvell as excepting- those who have been persecuted for religious or political reasons. and his answer was clear and lucid. as whatever the Senator says invariably is. I apprehend. however.. from what he said. that he did not quite catch the full import of my question with its qualifications. What I asked was to knowif any reason occurred to the mindof the Senator why an immigrant who had been persecuted for racial reasons should not be admitted equally with immigrants who had been persecut6d for religious or polilic:lreasons. provided the iminigrant was not otheiwise subjectto exclusionfor special reasons outside and independeut of the provisions of this bill. For example. Chinese are now excluded by iirtue of our public policy. crystallized into law. A Chinaman might be persecuted for racial reasons. bht he wotild be xcluded as an immigrant to this country. specifically because he is of the Chinese race. In like manner the people of any other particular race could be excluded from our citizenship by a direct enactment for that purpose. or any class of people could be specifically excluded for any reason we may care to act.upon. But there is no intention on the part of any to exclude the Jews from emigrating to the United States because of their race. It never has been and is not now our policy to apply any test of that kind to the Hebrew people. the Jewish race. Now. with this qualification. I would like the opinion of the Senator from Colorado or the Senator from South Carolina as to whether there is any greater or better reason for admitting immigrants. whether illiterate or not. if they are fleeing from religious or political persecutions than for admitting those who are fleeing from a purely racial persecution. The Senator from South Carolina stated a moment ago. and lie was very emphatic in his views. that the persecution of the Jews in at least one of the chief countries of Europe is because of racial prejudices and that it had nothing to do with the religious convictions or practices of those people. If that be. the fact. and if they suffer humiliations and discriminations. and If they are denied rights that obtain generally among their fellow countrymen solely because they are Jews. in a racial and not in a religious sense. then a Jew could not avail himself of the exception in the text of the bill. which relates only to religious persecution.