One of the arguments made by proponents of the McCarran bill. is that the change in date of the census from 1920 to 1950. and the pooling of unused quotas. will mean the flooding of this country with new immigrants. Of course. that is not borne out in the slightest degree by any facts. The fact is that under the change in date of the census from 1920 to 1950. plus the inclusion of Negroes as shown by the censusand I have never in the slightest degree understood why they were not included. as if they were not human beings. which can be the only implicationafter changing the census date from 1920 to 1950. and providing for inclusion of Negroes in the census. the number that would be admitted would be 230.000 or 240.000. instead of 154.000. as of today. representing a very small increase. Furthermore. even including in the pool the unused quotas. the limitation upon those that could be admitted would be about 230.000 or 240.000. The quota system is based on a formula of onesixth of 1 percent of the population of the United States as it appears in the census. Therefore. assuming that the population does not increase after 1950the base year on which the present formula is made effectiveto a larger number later. and assuming that those to be admitted would be only onesixth of 1 percent in 30 years. there would be admitted as immigrants a number equivalent to only 5 percent of the population. That is not 5 percent in 1. 2. 3. 5. or 10 years. but 5 percent over the entire period of 30 yearsmore than the lifetime of an entire generation. Certainly nobody can claim for one second that that would result in flooding the United States with new immigrants. or that there would be any undue impact on the industry and economy of the Nation. Five percent over a period of 30 years is all our bill provides for. I certainly cannot conceive of any more modest formula than that.
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quota system immigrants