Speech #810183839

President. to state that there is discrimination in the 1948 act against Catholics and Jews. is to fly in the face of the record. During the war years. of the hundreds of thousands of displaced persons who were admitted into the United States. it is reliably estimated that approximately fourfifths were of Jewish faith. Under the Presidents directive of December 22. 1945. visas were issued to 23.594 displaced persons of Jewish faith. 5.924 to displaced persons of Catholic faith. and 3.906 to displaced persons of Protestant faith. in other words. 88 percent to persons of Jewish or Catholic faith. 12 percent to persons of Protestant faith. The Visa Division of the State Department reports that under the Displaced Persons Act of 1948. as of November 30. 1949. visas had been issued to 127.866 displaced persons. 53.402. or 41 percent. to displaced persons of Catholic faith. 33.479. or 26 percent. to displaced persons of Jewish faith. 20.279. or 16 percent. to displaced persons of Protestant faith. 19.283. or 15 percent. to displaced persons of Greek Orthodox faith. and 1.423. or 2 percent. to displaced persons of unknown faith. On January 23. Mr. Ugo Carusi. of the Displaced Persons Commission. testified before the Judiciary Committee that the registration of displaced persons completed by the International Refugee Organization in April 1947 showed that 60 percent were of Catholic faith. 25 percent were of Jewish faith. and 15 percent were of Protestant. Greek Orthodox. and other faiths. It should be noted that the IRO registration includes the socalled "hard core." who are not eligible for immigration to the United States. and also includes persons who immigrate to other countries. Mr. Carusi further testified that of the approximately 130.000 displaced persons admitted under the act to the United States as of January 23. 1950. 48 percent were of Catholic faith. 25 percent were of Jewish faith. 25 percent were of Protestant.