In this and all similar cases. if the law contains loopholes which render it impossible to take orderly action in cases of real subversive activity. then it is the law which should be changed rather than to try to circumvent it by legislative monstrosities of this sort. Furthermore. do any Members of the House doubt for a moment that constant surveillance is being maintained by interested groups to catch Mr. Bridges in some action which would offer. substantial and provable grounds for his deportation under the provisions of existing law?. I wish to include herewith with my remarks portions of two editorials appearing on this subject. one from the San Francisco Chronicle. an outstanding conservative California newspaper. and the other from the Washington post. San Francisco Chronicle: Congress is still playing with the idea of deporting Harry Bridges by bill of attainder. regardless of the constitutional prohibition of such a process. It is a curious paradox that those who shout most loudly for the Constitution are often those least familiar with its provisions and least concerned for granting to others the rights it guarantees to themselves. In this case. since the effort to deport Bridges by due process of law failed on a finding of want of proof. it is proposed to substitute undue process of attainder. For surely. these objectors conclude. Bridges is an undesirable alien. since they do not desire him. And if it is pointed out that there is no general law for the deportation of aliens merely because they are undesirable. what could be simpler than a special law for the deportation of this particular undesired one? The Washington Post: The framers of the Constitution were aware of- the dangers of permitting the legislature to punish individuals without benefit of trial. Hence they forbade Congress to pass bills of attainderbills that are a species of extrajudicial procedure. for the direct punishment of political offenders. It does not require a knowledge of constitutional law to realize the enormity of a proposal that would condemn a man to deportation by a mere legislative decree. Lightning thus invoked might strike anybody who happened to incur the displeasure of Congress. It would not be necessary to limit attacks to aliens whose radical views. and union activities have made them objects of dislike and suspicion to influential groups.
Keywords matched
undesirable alien deporting deportation