Speech #680193358

Speaker and gentlemen of the House. I appreciate that you have been under a terrific strain the entire day and that the hour is late and that you are desirous for a vote upon this bill. However. realizing that only a very few Member are familiar with the provisions of the bill and that it is the general impression of many that this is a measure which will effect the deportation of all criminal and undesirable aliens in the United States. I wish to call the attention of the House to sections 3 and 19 of the act of 1917. and to the l)rovisions of the immigration act of 1924 which expressly provide for the deportation of criminal and undesirable aliens. More especially do I wish to try to bring to your notice. before you cast your vote. some of the extremely unreasonable. harsh. and unconstitutional provisions that appear in the bill under consideration. The majority of the committee in Its report states that "the immigration acts of 1917 and 1924 have made it possible. to a great extent at least. to limit the entry into this country of undesirable and dangerous aliens." and that the passage of this bill will help the immigration authorities in further preventing the entry of such aliens. This. however. Is not so. There is nothing In this bill which will further prevent the entry of any aliens. Under section 3 of the 1917 act and under the quota act of 1.924 no undesirable alien can enter the United States and there is nothing In this bill which will strengthen the law as to illegal entry. Section 19 of the 1917 act and section 14 of the 1924 act. in absolute and unmistakable terms. provides for the deportation of any undesirable. The proponents of this bill will be obliged to concede. if they will but take the time to read the two sections referred to. that if any undesirables did enter or were not deported it was not because we lacked laws to prevent entry or effect deportation but to the failure of Congress to provide adequate appropriations which would permit of the proper enforcement of our existing laws. If in the past there has not been proper administration of the law owing to the limited Immigration force which has to do with its enforcement. I can truthfully say that it has been remedied to a marked degree by the increase of the Immigration Bureau appropriation in the last and present Congresses whereby $1.000.000 has been specilically provided for an immigration border patrol. This is evidenced by the tremendous increase in the number of deportations. as shown by the report of the Commissioner of Immigration for the fiscal year of 1924 and for the first six months of the present fiscal year. This report I shall append to my remarks. I know that upon examination of these figures. which I hope you will make. you will find in the greater number of cases that it is not the aliens of the nationalities comprising the socalled newer immigration but those belonging to the older immigration. or socalled Nordic immigration. whose offenses have called for their deportation. These statistics will also show that very few of the newer immigration are being deported for crimes. but are being deported for being in excess of quota. becoming a public charge. or for failure to comply with certain technical provisions of the immigration law. The act of 1924 restricts the number of immigrants from the southern and eastern European countries to a negligible number and gives unlimited authority to our consular officials abroad to thoroughly examine every alien applicant before issuing to him an immigration certificate. without which he can not legally enter the United States. Therefore I am at a loss to understand how or in what way this bill will "materially assist in further preventing the entry of undesirable and dangerous aliens." If it had really been the intention of the committee to prevent the entry of undesirable aliens it should have acted upon the recommendations of Secretary of Labor Davis and should have embodied in this bill the provisions of the measure introduced by the gentleman from Texas. which provides that the restrictive quota provisions of the 1924 act should also be applicable to Mexico. Canada. and the South and Central Ameri. can Republics. from which countries we are today receiving the great bulk of our immigration. in fact. six times as great as that which we permit to enter from Europe. outside of Great Britain and Germany. Immigrants from Mexico. Canada. and the Central and South American countries are permitted to enter the United States without examination or investigation on the part of our consular officials as is given to the European immigrants. This bill in no way restricts that immigration and does not in any manner strengthen the present law or in any way provide for better examination or inyestigation. Mr. Speaker and gentlemen. great. publicity has been given to the reports that hundreds of thousands of aliens are coming into the United States illegally and. notwithstanding that fact. thereis nothing In this bill that would put a stop to the wholesale desertions of seamen from foreign ships which the report of the department shows amounted to 34.679 during the last fiscal year. Strenuous efforts have been made for some time by those interested. and I have joined with them to the best of my ability. to secure the adoption of an amendment by the committee which would put a stop to this illegal practice. If the committee desired and intended to stop this kind of illegal entry the opportunity was afforded when the committee considered this bill. but they refused and failed to incorporate the amendment in the bill. Therefore. by no stretch of imagination can it be stated that the bill will "further " prevent the illegal entry of undesirable aliens. Mr. Speaker. the report of the majority of the committee fails to give the main object or underlying reason for this proposed legislation. I shall now hurriedly give you the principal reasons and the new provisions in the bill. First. A change in the existing law Is sought by the removal of the fiveyear limitation. which will make possible the wholesale deportation not only of those who entered illegally but to deport those who came and are here lawfully. not be.cause they have committed any crime but because they may have suffered disability due to extremely hazardous employment or occupation and may have become temporary inmates of any of our public institutions. Under this proposed bill such aliens would be classed as public charges and be subject to deportation regardless of the time of their residence in the United States. regardless of the fact that they at all times had borne excellent reputations. regardless of their having married a woman of American birth. and regardless of the fact that they bad born to them in this country one. two. or more children. We under our law outlaw the most heinous crimes other than murder in three and. in very few. cases. in five years. And yet it is proposed in this bill that no limit of time shall prevent the deportation of an alien. regardless of the time when he entered the United States. Second. I point out that this bill reverses the traditional policy of our Government by placing the burden of proof upon the alien. It will not only force the alien to prove himself innocent.- but will compel him to disprove any groundless charges that may be made against him by any unscrupulous person who might make a charge because of a grudge or for the purpose of extortion or blackmail. If this bill should become a law. an alien who has been engaged in hazardous or dangerous employment. suffering from disability ap a result of such employment and receiving hospitalization in any of our public Institutions. should an expert make a diagnosis that he is suffering from psychopathic inferiority or any other of the many ailments which are a result of hazardous and dangerous employment. he would be subject to deportation. It would fall upon the alien to prove that his disability or condition has arisen from causes subsequent to his entry in the United States. What opportunity will the poor alien. broken in health and physical condition. after giving his sinew and brawn and perhaps the best years of his life in American employment. have in affirmatively proving his case? He may lack the means to do so or his actual physical condition may be such as to prevent his appearance at the hearing ordered. and in either case the immigration inspector is fully empowered to enter a deportation order. Third. Subdivision 10 of section 19 of the bill provides for deportation whether or not an alien has been convicted of an offense. The power given to immigration inspectors under this provision will permit them to overrule the findings or decision of a jury or court. I ask. do you believe that this is legislation in the right direction? I am convinced it is the most dangerous step we can take. even though it is aimed only against the unfortunate alien. Fourth. Under subdivision 6 of section 19 an alien can be deported if guilty of an offense and sentenced to imprisonment for one year or more. Subdivision 7 of the same section provides that an alien may be deported if sentenced for more than one violation if the combined sentences received for all offenses total 18 months. but under subdivision 8 if he is sentenced for a violation of the Volstead Act and receives a sentence of 12 months he is to be deported. This is unjust discrimination. The bill at most should provide for a uniform time limit of sentence of conviction in all cases.