Speech #800019085

In the process. weofind some strange and baffling contradictions. which seem to put our financial policy in the same class as those mysteries above human understanding. I have just mentioned the loan to Britain. which our friends across the water may justly regard as being "pound foolish." By way of contrast. I want to mention a smaller item. which has come to my attention Under the immigration quota system. it appears that 17.000 Irish men and women are entitled to leave their homeland and settle in the United States17.000 each year. Now this is a small quota. compared with that allotted to some other countries. However. having established the quota. the understanding is that our Government shall do everything in its power to cut red tape and quickly pFocess applications. so that those who qualify. may come to this country as soon as possible. This is the theory but not the practice. In fact. we are defaulting on our obligations to these future citizens. Eight thousand Irish men and womenless than half the quotahave applied for immigration visas to the United States. But these visas. to which they are entitled. are not being granted because the American consulate general in Dublin claims that his staff is too small to handle the job. Our consulate in Ireland. now processes only 100 visas monthly. or 25 a week. By right. if 17.000 Irishmen applied for entry to the United States in 1946. they shouldbe permitted to enter the country in 1946. At the present rate of processing. it will take 7 years for half the 1946 quota to be cleared. This is what I mean by calling our appropriations for the consular service "penny wise" and niggardly. cheapening us in the eyes of prospective citizens who rely upon our good faith. They have complied with their obligations in the matter. but we are failing in ours. There is much resentment in the United States as well as Ireland over this inexcusable delay In granting visas to Irish emigrants. Many Senators and Congressmen have had the exasperating experience of trying to get action on these legitimate applications. only to be told that it is impossible so long as the consulate is inadequately staffed. The consular service is not a wartime or emergency function of Government.