Speech #800005755

Mr. Speak-. er. from time to time Members of Congress. newspaper reporters. and others have attempted to piece .together the immigration- picture. - It has not been easy to determine how many people from foreign countries are in the United States and eligible for citizenship. Press reports indicate the number of aliens registered with the Department of Immigra.tion and Naturalization is about three and onehalf million. No one seems to know. just- how many are.here on.visitors visas. On November 26. 1943. former Assistant Secretary. of State. Long testified in an executive session of the House Foreign Affairs Committee that about 307.000 visas of all kinds were granted to persons from enemy and enemyoccupied territories. Most of them came on visitors visas. There is then the question of nonquota immigrants. To qualify for the nonquota type it is necessary to have a relative in this country who will take care of you or show that you have $1.200 available in a bank and at your disposal. There is a very neat racket now of getting a letter from a bank showing $1.200 and then transferring the same $1.200 to another bank and getting a similar letter. This goes on indefinitely. The original $1.200 will serve many people. The latest reports I can get from the Department of State which issues visas and from the Immigration Division is to the effect that from July 1. 1946. to January 1. 1947. an average of 4.500 a month came in on the regular quota visas. There Is another 7.000 a month from nonquota cdbntries. Attorney General Clark estimated last June 9 that 2.000 people a day were entering this country illegally. that is. without visas. This would mean 730.000 a year from this source. The Immigration Service apprehended 85.000 who came in illegally the last 6 months of 1946. Part of the difficulty in getting information from agencies dealing with immigration is due to a directive issued by the Attorney General on May 2. 1939. which reads as follows: All official files. documents. records. and information in the offices of the Department of Justice. Including the several offices of the United States attorneys. Federal Bureau of Investigation. United States marshals. and Federal penal and correctional institutions. or in control of any officer or employee of the Department of Justice. are to be regarded as confidential. No officer or employee may permit the disclosure or use for any purpose other than for the performance of his official duties. except in the discretion of the Attorney General. the assistant to the Attorney 3eneral. or an Assistant Attorney General acting for him. This rather effectively ties the hands of anyone seeking information about immigration. I hold here In my hand a photostatic copy of a list of passengers on a recent flight from TelAviv. Palestine. to Miami.