Speech #820243788

No effort whatever was made to strengthen the enforcement arm of the law so as to exclude persons who had entered this country illegally. The only way by which it was possible to get at them was to punish the employers who sought to use their labor. knowing that they had come in as wetbacks or in other illegal classifications. We provide for the exclusion of a sailor who jumps ship. as we should do. if he is not eligible to come here as a legal immigrant. We deport other persons who. in small numbers. may have entered the United States. in one way or other illegally. and we should deport them. Yet. in the same breath. we say we are willing to tie the hands of our lawenforcement officials in the case of at least 700.000 immigrants whom we know to be here illegally. That. to me. simply does not make sense. If we are really sincere in trying to exclude those who cannot legally enter this country. if we are really sincere. as has been claimed. in seeking to deport those who have entered illegally and who do not belong here. then certainly we are not justified in refusing to strengthen the arms of our lawenforcement officials in detecting. apprehending. and deporting this vast number of persons. many of whom are now openly employed in Southern States. and many of whom in other sections of our country compete illegally with American labor in railroad work and in other lines of industry. Mr. President. this issue far transcends the matter of a half million dollars. This issue. I think. goes to the very heart of the question of whether we are sincere in trying to exclude persons who do not belong in this country. persons who. because of acts of moral turpitude or through failure to possess the qualifications set forth in our laws. should be excluded. Are we sincere in our determination to deport persons who have entered this country illegally. and who should be deported? Seven hundred thousand persons enter this country illegally each year. I hope the amendment of the Senator from Minnesota will prevail.