Speaker. the House of Representatives will consider this week a very important bill. H. R. 5678. revising the laws relating to immigration. naturalization. and nationality. A careful study of this bill will leave the reader with mixed emotions. Undoubtedly. many improvements have been included in this bill. However. there are certain provisions in the bill which. in my opinion. should be changed by amendment before its final passage. I believe that section 212 (a). which transfers from Congress to the President the right to prohibit the immigration of any and all foreigners to the United States upon his own determination is a very unwise provision. I shall vote to eliminate it. I believe that Congress should retain this control. which is given it by the Constitution. In my opinion. were this provision ever tested in the courts it would be declared unconstitutional. I do not like the feature which restricts future immigration. by in effect mortgaging future quotas. through charging against those quotas people who have entered the United States under the Displaced Persons Act. While previous laws have not been free of racial discrimination. I regret that a new provision is contained in this bill which changes the principle of national origin by providing an additional restriction on those citizens of other countries who are descended from Asiatic ancestors. I fear that this provision will be capitalized upon by the Communists in their propaganda throughout the Asiatic world. Another fault of the bill. in my opinion. is the omission of a provision which would allow the pooling of unused quotas. I realize that the 1924 law did not contain such a provision and it Is a matter of policy. which. in my opinion. should be changed in this current legislation.
Keywords matched
naturalization Asiatic immigration