Speech #670340332

Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee. the record vote in this House shows that the Members are overwhelmingly in favor of restricted immigration. A year ago the Committee on Appropriations saw fit to cut down the amount of money to be used by the Immigration Service to $3.300.000. As a result many employees were furloughed for one month without pay. Since March 4. 1921. over 400 employees have been released from the service. This year the Committee on Appropriations has seen fit to make another cut in the Immigration Service. reducing the amount from $3.300.000 to $3.000.000. as appears in line 2. page 48. of this appropriation bill. The way to kill a law is to reduce the appropriation to so small a sum the object of the law can not be carried out. This appropriation will prevent the proper enforcement of the 3 per cent law. In the first place. 228 men in that service will have to be released from the service entirely. In the second place. the 3 per cent law creates more work. because of the numerous appeals by the immigrants excluded at the ports. In addition to that. from Canada. from Cuba. from Mexico. these immigrants who were or would have been excluded at the ports are now coming Into the United States. If we cut this appropriation for the Immigration Service down it will also mean that aliens in this country who have no right to be here will remain. because the Government has no money to discover these aliens who should be deported and to deport them. I also wish to call the attention of the House to the fact that a year ago we passed a law imposing upon the Department of Labor and the Immigration Service the duty of deporting aliens found guilty of violating the narcotic law. It will mean that with the proposed appropriation the law will stand on the statute books with no force and effect. and the aliens found guilty of violating that law will not be deported. That law went into effect since the last appropriation bill. but no appropriation was ever made to carry out its provisions. Further. when the aliens come to the various ports they must be given prompt attention. It is the duty of the immigration officials to determine whether the alien should be admitted. If you are going to cut down the number of inspectors and officials at these ports. it means that the immigrants will have to stay there many days or it means that the limited number of inspectors can not give them the kind of an examination they should have before permitting them to enter or to debar them.