Speech #820209392

During the first century of our history as a nation we successfully overcame various socalled native movements. There was a notorious movement against the Irish in the 1840s. and others against the Italians. Swedes. and other immigrant groups. These provided the framework for the shameful Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. This was a gratuitous insult to the great and proud people of China. and. indeed. of the entire East. This act was the forerunner of the Immigration Act of 1924. which has established the pattern for our immigration laws to this very day. That pattern is one of flagrant discrimination in favor of northern and western Europe. where the pressure to emigrate has been slight. and a pattern of discrimination against the peoples of southern and eastern Europe. where the pressure to emigrate has been strong. The height of this policy of injustice and cruelty was reached just prior to World War II. when Congress declined to pass the WagnerRogers resolution. This resolution proposed to admit 10.000 refugee children. who would thus have been rescued from Hitlers terror. Think of that for a moment. Mr. President. Just before World War II. we refused to admit 10.000 refugee children. This is a subject very close to my own heart. because as a member of the board of directors of the Cradle Society of Illinois. I know of the tens and indeed hundreds of thousands of homes in this country which are yearning for children which cannot be obtained.