Speech #700010714

Chairman. I rise in opposition to the: pro forma amendment. I do not think it is necessary for the: distinguished chairman of the Committee on Immigration. the: gentleman from Washington . to express his con-. tempt for any Member of the House who may have views and ideas that do not exactly coincide with his own. There is no question as to the necessity for restricted immigration. I believe that the consensus of opinion in this House is that the. economic conditions of Europe and the United States are such. at this time that the bars should not entirely be let down. But some of us who are in direct contact with this human. problem look at it from a different angle. and because we are affected by the tragedies and the sorrows that attend a strict interpretation of the act in Its effect upon hundreds and thousands of families. and we seek to alleviate that condition. in keeping with the recommendation of the President of the United States in two or three successive messages to Congress. I think it unfair for the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Immigration to take exception to such manifestation of humnanitarian instincts. The hardship which has resulted Is in the separation of families. The President of the United States has referred to it in his messages on more than two or three occasions. What we seek Is to simply humanize this law so as to make possible a union of families permanently settled in this Country. and to so arrange It that aged parents may come here to join the family permanently. In many instances we have the case of a citizen of the United States who sends for his wife and children. .and because one child happens to be over the age of 18 having that child kept back and not permitted to come with her mother in joining her own father in this country. That is the kind of hardship that confronts us. and surely we ought to have time right to come on the floor of this House and to point out these conditions without being ourselves pointed out and held up as " alienmined." I believe that at the proper time the Committee on Immigration will go Into this matter in an Impartial manner and give. us an opportunity to bring these facts home to the committee.. The Secretary of Labor knows of the hardships the present law is causing. and I am sure lie would not oppose an amendment to the law to humanize it in harmony with the dictates of humanity. as the President of the United States says. The condition pointed out by the gentleman from New York I know something about. because I served as an interpreter in the immigration service 20 years ago. I attended daily the inspection of these immigrants on the part of the public health officials. It was my duty to interpret some of these silly questions that are put to the alien with the ostensible purpose of determining his mental fitness to enter this country. If such questions are put. it is necessary to take into consideration the background. the bringing up. and the enviromnent of an alien.