Speech #810154616

Mr. President. the junior Senator from Washington would like to reflect briefly on the relationship of our immigration policy to the displacedpersons problem. which is the pending subject. The immigration policy of this country is inevitably involved in the question of displaced persons. Prior to. and after. World War I immigrants were swarming to this country in such numbers that there was not sufficient boat space to bring in all who sold their last property to buy transportation. Let us see. Mr. President. just what the situation was some years ago. According to reports of the Immigration and Naturalization Service during the period 1901 to 1910 there were 8.795.386 immigrants received in the United States. from 1911 to 1920 there were 5.725.811 immigrants received. from 1921 to 1930. 4.107.209 immigrants were received. and from 1931 to 1940. 528.431 immigrants came to America. I think those figures will refresh the memories of some Senators and will interest other Senators who have not been acquainted previously with the huge numbers of persons who came to this country some years ago under our then prevailing immigration laws. Mr. President. when it became expedient for the United States to stem the tide of immigration in order to protect us from the tremendous numbers in Europe and elsewhere who were seeking to make their way to the land of paradise. action which was absolutely necessary in order to protect the economy of the country. to protect our workingman from cheap labor and our society in certain instancesfortunately not very manyfrom criminals and bad elements. we thereby killed the dream of countless millions hoping to follow their friends and relatives to the promised land. In the Immigration Act of 1924 specific quotas for European nations were established. thus limiting the numbers that migbt come in from each country. an effective barrier to undesirables. As I understand. one of the prime reasons for changing our laws to a quota system was to make as certain as possible that only such immigrants came to this country as stood much better than an even chance of becoming American citizens. worthy of the respect of citizens who luckily have been born in the United States of America. *The fact remains. however. that there are many millions in Europe and elsewhere who would sacrifice their careers and worldly fortunes for opportunity to establish themselves in America. All of us can understand this desire. Many of us have a very real sympathy with it. Mr. President. the same people. the same organizations. and some of the same Representatives in Congress who opposed the Immigration Acts of 1921 and 1924 which cut off the millions from Europe. are now the proponents of the displacedpersons legislation which would in effect open the doors. contrary to our immigration policy and our immigration laws. to 400.000 European refugees. Almost from the very inception of the displacedpersons problem the handiwork of these organizations has been easy to discern by those who have studied the problem and are aware of the purposes behind the program. Let me attempt to be specific.