Speech #810272786

One of the leading opponents of this bill. Mr. Lee Pressman. wrote a letter to every Member of Congress back in 1939 expressing a most reiterated point of opposition. which would be rather serious if it were true: This bill would authorize the detention of any alien who has been ordered deported. but who. through no fault of his own. is unable to secure a passport from the government of his native country. Mr. Pressman continued: The result would be that such individuals would be placed in concentration camps for the rest of their lives. The first one of these quotations is not what men of long experience in the Immigration Service tell me. They say that 9 out of 10 of the aliens who would be affected by this bill remain here as a result of slipping a bribe to one of their local consular agents. or by collusion with their home governments. They remain here. mark you. in spite of a solemn warrant of deportation duly made in conformity with our law. after full and fair hearing in which they had the right to be represented by counsel of their own choosing. and to disprove by any evidence they could adduce. the charges against them. The important ones. who have qualified as efficient propagandists for the overthrow. by force and violence. of our Government and for the establishment of some communistic or anarchistic heaven on earth. have made themselves so valuable to Red Russia. for instance. that Russia will not receive them back. but wishes to keep them here on the job as a part of the fifth column. The unimportant onesthe small fryhave to go down and slip a hundreddollar bill to some local agent of their foreign government and say: "Now remember. this is not a bribe.