It is. of course. true that many factors combined to produce the widespread and prolonged unemployment in this country. The unparalleled credit inflation prior to 1929. which was succeeded by inevitable deflation. the introduction of laborsaving devices. which displaced man power. the severe disparity between agricultural and industrial prices. with the consequent impairment of the farmers purchasing power and the serious decline of export trade. which normally furnishes employment to 10.000.000 people. were all Important but secondary causes of unemployment. The primary cause was immigration. If we had not permitted millions of aliens to enter this country. the secondary causes which I have enumerated would not have been sufficient to produce any serious unemployment in this country. although we would have. no doubt. experienced an economic depression. That this shortsighted policy is responsible for the present unemployment can be proven by simple mathematics. We now have in this country 16.500.000 foreign born and 7.500.000 aliens. We have approximately 10.000.000 unemployed. If we had refused admission to the 16.500.000. foreign born who are living in this country today. we would have no unemployment problem to distress and harass us. Even if we had excluded the 7.500.000 aliens which the records show are living in this Nation at this very moment. our unemployment would be normal. And if we were to deport the 3.500.000 aliens who are illegally in this country. we would reduce unemployment as much as we hope to do through the expenditure of $5.000.000000. As an indication of the number of aliens entering this country illegally. the value of seizures by the border patrol of vehicles used in smuggling aliens for the year 1933 was $283.744. This included 13 airships valued at $89.500. Of the 7.500.000 aliens who are in this country there are from 1000.000 to 1.500.000 on public relief.
Keywords matched
border patrol immigration foreign born