Speech #820209894

When even unreflective. ordinary individuals come to a society where they can see the contrast between the old and the new they tend to appreciate very keenly the values of democracy. This they do even if they are not conscious of politics or political theory. Every immigrant. no matter what his level of education or ability to think. sees this contrast between what he left behind and what he finds here in America. and in practice this develops an attachment to American ideals. Foreignsounding names in the recent crime hearings led many a superficial observer to conclude that the foreignborn are prominent among those who transgress the law. Bu it was former President Hoovers Commission on Law Enforcement which came to the conclusion that precisely the opposite is true. and that the record of the immigrant is one of abiding by the laws of our country. Here are the conclusions of the Hoover Commission: 1. That in proportion to their respective numbers. the foreign born commit considerably fewer crimes than the native born. 2. That the foreign born approach the record of the native white most closely in the commission of crimes involving personal violence. 3. That in crimes for gain. including robbery. in which there is also personal violence or the threat of violence. the native white greatly exceed the foreign born. Of course. I am not in any way reflecting on the native white. I am merely pointing out that it is unfair. inaccurate. and certainly unjust to imply that foreignborn persons or their dependents are any crime risk. as has been implied. The role of the Immigrant in our society has been one of honor. It has been proved. over and over again. that whereever he has settled in our several States he has brought economic strength. artistic distinction. and industrial and agrarian progress. What is the force which seeks to persuade us to surround this immigrant with discriminatory quotas. label him with registration cards. and place him at the whim of bureaucratic officialdom here and abroad? I would say that the antialien laws find their impetus in the anxiety and fear which now possess so many of us. At such a moment there is a tendency to take refuge in narrow nationalism and bigotry.