I have one further observation. We are taking a step here today. if we repudiate this amendment. that is a repudiation of the whole course of American history. We propose. if we repudiate this amendment. to close the doors of this country to those men who seek asylum from political persecution. We propose to say to the immigrant who may be fleeing here for his life from an oppressor who may conquer his country within the next few monthsaye. who may have already conquered his country-" You shall go back to your death. to the land where it awaits you. for no other crime than a political crime." That is a reversal of American polky for a century. -It is a reversal -of all our precedents. all our customs. all our pretensions. and it is a policy that is. in my opinion. unworthy of the American people.
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immigrant seek asylum