Speech #760003169

Mr. Speaker. when the Congress is about to reorganize there are certain groups or societies that immediately start propagandizing the Members on various questions. At the present time we have certain groups in Washington and elsewhere sending out propaganda dealing with the socalled immigration problem and dealing also with the question of European refugees. In every instance this propaganda which you and I have received and will continue to receive day in and day out is not true. You will find that the bulk of the information contained therein is inaccurate. It simply seeks to mislead you when legislation dealing with this very serious problem is presented on the floor of the House so that you may perhaps be misguided when you vote on these questions. As chairman of the Committee on Immigration. on which committee I have had the honor to serve for the last 10 years. may I say to the Members that I shall be glad to assist them in furnishing information and authentic figures on any questions they may present. so that you may have an accurate and true picture of the situation. We have certain writers in this country and certain people in the country who have never seen an immigrant. although they write books about them. We have lecturers who go around the various cities of the country. including Washington. and preach the doctrine of hate and intolerance. I think we. as Members of Congress and as legislators. should be fully acquainted with this problem so that you and I and the country at large will know that all of this propaganda is not true and that it is given out in an effort to array hate and intolerance against fair play. Immigration has been a problem of our Government almost from the very creation of the country. We have references to immigration in our Constitution. Recent events have brought immigration to the forefront of public discussion and the public press Is full of statements to the effect that there is an influx into this country of refugees from Germany and other places. and that as a result the economic structure of the United States is being adversely affected. It is important for us as legislators to have a clear understanding of what is involved in this situation. For the benefit of the Congress I have taken the trouble to go through these statistics. and I wish to present my findings to you this morning. We will consider first the following provisions: 1. The number of aliens. 2. The deportation of aliens. 3. Immigration quotas. My analysis of these figures. as well as the analysis of the Department. leads to the following conclusions: A. The statement made by various groups that there is a large influx of aliens is not true. As a matter of fact. there is no influx of aliens to the United States. B. The number of deportations is continuously increasing instead of decreasing. despite the charges made by certain Members of the House regarding the attitude of the Department of Labor toward deportation. C. The immigration quotas in the past few years in many instances have not been filled. Therefore. the charge that thousands upon thousands of refugees are coming into the United States and flooding this country is absolutely false and untrue. and the charge that the quotas are now being filled or have. been filled in the recent past is not true. As I go along I will show that this country has done nothing to help refugees and that no persons come into the United States other than those whom the law allows to come.