Speaker. I shall undertake to discuss the provisions of this bill fairly. so that the facts in regard to it will be well known to all of the Members present. The first section deals with a new class of cases that are made mandatorily deportable. In the original KerrCoolidge bill and the bills that preceded it. all of the new classes of deportable cases were made discretionary with the Secretary of Labor. In addition to this. in the original bills that were introduced. unlimited discretion was given to the Secretary of Labor for all time without any restriction as to time or as to number to be permitted to remain in the United States. The first four sections of this bill deal strictly with criminal aliens who are not now deportable under existing law. The bill does not represent all that I want. Certainly. it does not represent all that any Member on either side of this question wants. The first paragraph states that any alien is subject to deportation who is convicted in the Untied States within 5 years of the institution of deportation proceedings against him of a crime involving moral turpitude for which the alien is committed to an institution as a result of such conviction. Under the language of this paragraph any alien in the future who is guilty of any crime involving moral turpitude is deportable. and I may say that under the interpretation given by the courts of most States moral turpitude includes a great variety of crimes ranging from petty offenses to crimes of a more serious nature. This provision undertakes to put the alien upon notice that insofar as the future is concerned any alien who is guilty of any crime that involves moral turpitude and is sent to an institution. which may mean a jail or a penitentiary. is subject mandatorily to deportation. Under existing law the only alien that can be deported for the perpetration of a crime involving moral turpitude is an alien who. within 5 years after entry. commits such crime and is actually sentenced to a year or more in the penitentiary. A considerable class of criminal aliens. therefore. escape deportation under the terms of existing law. This Dies bill reaches out and Includes all aliens. whether they were sentenced to 1 year or less. even if they were sent to jail or the penitentiary. no matter how long the time or what the period may be. In my previous bill. which was amended by the committee. I provided for the mandatory deportation of aliens. even if they were pardoned. and the provision was retroactive. The committee. however. by unanimous action. considered that too harsh and amended that provision with the compromise proposal which I have just read. Paragraph 2 of the bill says. alsoHas been convicted in the United States within 5 years of the institution of deportation proceedings against him of the crime of possessing or carrying any firearm. even if the alien was not sentenced to imprisonment. Some objection has been raised to this provision on the ground that an alien who is hunting rabbits would be subject to deportation under the terms of this bill. The alien must first be convicted of the offense of carrying a firearm before he is subject to deportation. and under the laws of every State that I ever heard of a citizen or an alien or anyone else who has any legitimate purpose or use for a weapon can secure a permit to carry one. Not only is that true but in the State of Texas a man is entitled to have a weapon in his home for selfdefense. and. so far as I know. there is no law that prohibits a man from using a gun to go hunting. provided he has a permit for doing so.
Keywords matched
deported deportable deportation