Speech #700110960

There are frequently instances where the father and mother have been forced to leave the country of their birth and where the children were left behind at a time when they were approaching the age of adolescence. Sometimes they may be girls between 13 and 14 years of age whose father has left them and who have reached the age of between 18 and 21 years. Fortunately. the Immigration Committee saw. fit to include in the nonquota class children of American citizens between the ages of 18 and 21. This is a step forward. But a inere granting of a preference to alien declarants is hardly going far enough to solve this question of uniting of families. Not only must children and their parents be united. not only husbands and wives be united. but why should not parents of- American citizens be permitted to come to the United States without the quota? Their number is not large. What logical reason canl be assigned for the keeping out of the United States of aged parents who are for the most part dependent upon their children. whose children are willing and ready to support them. but who simply can not colie into the United States because of the arbitrary limitations in our existing immigration laws. I reiterate there is not only the increase of the age limit of American children. but we ought to include the father and mother. and we ought to forget this arbitrary distinction which the bill now places between the quota and nonquota immigrant. You are not increasing. by one immigrant the number of those who call come in from the quota of the act of 1924. You are simply making it impossible for any immigrants to enter the United States unless they happen to have relatives inthis country already. As far as you go. you have relieved the condition to some extent. but you have not (lone what in justice and humanity you should have done and for what I have been giving my time. energy. and effort during the entire time that I was a member of this august body and of the Immigration Committee. I want to warn this country at this time of the (lire consequences which this unfortunate haphazard and unscientific immigration policy has accomplished. We must once for all get away from the idea of forbidding desirable prospective citizens to enter this country under the restrictions placed by Congress. Some day you gentlemen will awaken to the truth of the situation and will coie to realize that to create a great nation it is necessary to act without prejudice and without preconceived notions or views about the inferiority of a certain type of immigrant or superiority of another type. Do not. for Heavens sake. count the number of desirable citizens who are to make their home with us. If the husband is good enough to stay here.