There is another reason why neither civil rights nor the fruits of progress can be sacrificed. The curtailment of either would lead to the possibility of dissension and would surely turn group against group at a time when national unity is most to be desired. The singling out of minorities for special controls or repressive action cannot fail to arouse resentment among large numbers of our people. whether they are citizens or noncitizens. If action against minorities should include repressions that. through zeal or misguidance. result in needless severity or brutality. or in violations of the constitutional rights of aliens. such steps would be resented by the millions of Americans whose parents or grandparents were foreignborn and who fled to this country to escape the blight of oppression and injustice that has from time to time fallen upon other parts of the world. There can be no question but that the deprivation of democratic values would make for serious discord.
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noncitizens