Speech #750050530

Mr. Speaker. my purpose in asking the chairman of the Committee on Immigration to make this arrangement whereby we might discuss this bill for 1 hour was in order to try to clarify the atmosphere and make it possible for the Members of the House to understand exactly what is the situation before us. In preparing for this afternoons discussion. the various Members who have been appointed to act as official objectors on the Private Calendar have studied the individual committee reports on each bill. the printed hearings that are available. and also have carefully gone over the complete files of the Department of Immigration. which have been made available to day. beginning at page 4668. I have inserted a complete statement. which will set- forth the actual facts concerning each case. showing when the alien arrived in this country. what he is now doing. what family he has in this country. as well as all the information obtainable surrounding the fraudulent issue of these spurious visas. and the part which the alien directly played in the procurement of the visa. This omnibus bill contains 15 titles. each title being a private bill heretofore objected to and sent back to the Committee on Immigration. On the day on which these bills were first called on the Private Calendar. unfortunately. I was not present. For that reason I personally have not objected to any one of the 15 bills that appear in this omnibus bill. Subsequently. however. before the omnibus bills were put on the calendar. 30 additional bills of a similar character were called. and. believing that these bills should all be treated in the same manner as were the 15 now under consideration. I personally objected to every one of them. because I felt they should be referred back to the committee and that we should have an expression from the membership of this House as to exactly what they wished to do in regard to these socalled hardship immigration cases. In almost every instance in the bills before us the alien coming to this country obtained a fraudulent visa. To my mind there is no question but what the alien knew at the time that the visa he possessed was a fraud. because in every instance he had to sign his name across a photograph which was impressed with the seal of the consular office at the time the visa was issued. In many instances the aliens used an assumed name in obtaining that visa. The records that were used to support the visa were forgeries75 individual cases in one lot were discovered to have been forged. 75 forged certificates alleging birth in Germany. and with them 75 police reports showing the good conduct of this supposed person. In three instances apparently our own consular agents were involved in these proceedings. and that is what made it possible for this racket to develop. It seems that an agent in New York meeting a relative of the alien in this country found out that there was a relative in Europe who wished to come to America. The New York agent apparently contacted the European agent. The European agent then went to the European alien and said. "If you will pay me a sum of money I can procure a visa for you." In Poland. in Lithuania. and in other countries the quota was filled. In Germany the quota was not filled. By going to Germany he could get a visa for America. The alien then procured a passport to some other countryUruguay. Brazil. Canada. or Mexicowent through Germany on the way to the other country. and stopped in Berlin 2 days. 10 days. or 6 weeks or 8 weeks. while this visa for America was being prepared. In other instances the alien paid $40. $50. $300. $500. or even greater sums to obtain the visa. In no case did the alien actually appear to be entirely innocent in the transaction. In some cases they could not read German. but the fact that they signed their names to photographs clearly shows that they had knowledge of the fact that they were perpetrating some sort of fraud.