Speech #730173788

Mr. Carr. testified before the committee when the bill was up for a hearing. He considered the proposed bill a humane measure and not calculated to open the doors to further immigration but to enable a certain small group of people to have their status corrected so as to enable them to remain in the United States. The number is very small. and the State Department has no objection to the bill at all. The number of people involved as given by Commissioner McCormack is approximately 1.000. but this figure is only an estimate and includes 1.000 Russians against whom warrants of deportation have already been issued. Commissioner McCormack estimated that in addition to the 1.000 deportation cases there are not more than 3.000. up to about 4.000. persons from Russian territory who are subject to deportation. About half of them came here illegally. the others were here temporarily. The only reason why no legislation was heretofore passed in these cases is that the number of people involved is small. but it is the opinion of Commissioner McCormack that while the number is small the cases are deserving of consideration. As to the type of people who are involved in the legislation. Mrs. Courtney Campbell. who is a daughter of Judge Green and who for some time acted as a special immigration investigator under section 24 of the immigration law. said that the class of individuals covered by this legislation has a very high percentage of extremely gifted persons. There is a professor of ancient history at Yale University. a professor of sociology at Harvard. a research assistant at Yale. an inventor of television at the Westinghouse Electric Co.. an inventor of synthetic rubber. another professor of history at the University of California. a professor of economics. the noted pianist and composer Serge Rachmaninoff. a soil expert at the Department of Agriculture. an aviator who won the worlds altitude record in 1931. Dr. Strachofsky. who is a professor of modern European history at Georgetown. and so forth. The manner in which these refugees came variessome came on valid visas and passports. but their passports having expired they are now here technically subject to deportation. Others are students in higher institutions of learning whose status as students has changed and who are therefore also liable to deportation. Most of the men are married and some of. them have Americanborn children. In addition to the high occupations which were mentioned. there are others who work as manual laborers. some artists. others writers. and so forth. Most of the men entered this country .between 1921 and 1926. Some of them arrived with valid visas for 6 months and others came as members of ships crews. and there is a whole group of army and navy officers who landed forcibly in San Francisco Harbor. having fled from the Bolshevik terror in the Far East. Most of the Russians unlawfully here range in age from 35 to 50. There are practically no very old men and only a few men are under the age of 25. There was an interesting thing brought to the attention of th ecommittee. to wit: In the National Guard. Two Hundred and Fortyfourth Coast Artillery. there is a group known as the "Russian Battery." This battery consists of 38 members of whom 30 are technically subject to deportation. Most of them served in the former Russian Army or Navy and are now serving as buck privates in the National Guard. This battery has been in existence 5 years and received in 1930 a prize from the War Department for having the highest discipline and morale in the whole State of New York.