Speech #710193526

Mr. President. let me make a brief statement to the Senate before the final vote upon the Harris bill. The effect of the measure as finally perfected is to bring Mexico within the immigration quota law. leaving immigration from all of the other countries of the Western Hemisphere free and unrestricted. I have urged. but without success. that it was just as important to limit immigration from the other countries of the western world. and particularly from Canada. because it does not matter where the foreigner comes from if he enters the United States to seek employment in competition with American workingmen. The statistics of immigration for the month of March. 1930. show that 4.115 Canadians entered the United States. while only 808 Mexicans came to this country. I addressed this body at some length at the beginning of the discussion of the measure upon the final passage of which the Senate is now about to vote. At that time I stated that three things were necessary to be done to properly restrict .immigration into the United States and that I favored doing all three of them. First. a limnitation upon the number of immigrants who might enter this country lawfully. I made a very clear distinction between lawful and unlawful immigration. I stated that the action taken by the State Department through instructions given last year to our consuls in Mexico has very materially reduced the number of Mexicans lawfully entering the United States. I said that if the same policy is carried out by the State Department in the future as it had been during the past nine months there would be little or no necessity for a Mexican quota. I urged the President of the United States to let the country know what had been accomplished and to publicly comiend the officials of the State Department and the American consuls for the effective way in which they had so greatly reduced the number of imlligrants from Mexico. Second. I said that not only did I favr a limitation of the niiber of immigrants who could come into the United States either through the consular visa system or by the enactment of an iminigration quota law for the countries of the Western Hemisphere. but further insisted that in order to keep them out it would be necessary to maintain a larger and more efficient border patrol. I stated that this was the only way to put an end to the existing and notorious evasions of the immigration law whereby many thousands of aliens have surreptitiously and unlawfully entered the United States. I urged the President to use every power that he possesses to bring about the prompt enactnent of legislation for the establishment of an enlarged and unified border patrol. A quota law is worthless unless it is enforced. Third. I urged Senators to support Increased appropriations for the United States immigration service. so that ample funds will be available to ferret out and deport the hundreds of thousands of aliens who are now unlawfully in the United States. I said that the prompt deportation of every alien who is now in this country holding a job would create vacancies in positions which could be at once occupied by American citizens. In addition to these three main propositions I also spoke in favor of the exclusion of Filipino laborers. the same as Chinese. Japanese. and Hindus. I supported every amendment to reduce the total number of immigrants who may enter the United States under the quota system. I offered to amend the bill and I voted for amendments to the measure. It is now upon its final passage. Inquiry has been made of me as how I could thus seek to change the bill in various particulars and today vote to bring it back from the Committee on Immigration and agree to its enactment. There is no inconsistency. Mr.