Speech #740207151

This proposed piece of legislation. endorsed by the Department of Labor. has a suspicious similarity to the Dickstein bill. introduced in the House in 1934. The Dickstein bill. opposed by the American Federation of Labor and all patriotic organizations. was then overwhelmingly voted down in the House of Representatives. The KerrCoolidge bill is not an act clarifying our present immigration legislation. The apparent objective of this bill is to make it possible to prevent the deportation of thousands of aliens who should be deported. because it leaves the authority to deport in the hands of the Secretary of Labor. whose word is both final and autocratic. There are more than 2.000 aliens in this country whose deportation should have been carried out long agowho have either been convicted of crime or are afflicted with diseases dangerous to the community or are members of organizations dedicated to the purpose of overthrowing our Government. by force If necessary. These undesirable aliens are being allowed to stay in this country by some mysterious force. and it appears to us that the KerrCoolidge bill has been largely framed to keep those 2.000 people in this country with other legions of aliens who should be deported. This is a country of laws--not dictatorsand the deportation of undesirable aliens should be mandatory and not left to the whims or fancies of a single individual bureaucrat! The American Federation of Labor is throwing its entire strength against the KerrCoolidge bill. Every patriotic organization is up in arms against this proposed act. fighting desperately with all the power at its command.