Speech #830231846

Interpreters stood by the newcomers as they lined up for inspection by United States officials. There were three such inspections: customs. Immigration. and health. The plane had landed at 9:05. By 11:15 all three inspections had been completed for every member of the entire groupand the door to America opened. At 11:30 box lunches were distributed (with warm milk for infants) and the erstwhile refugees boarded a chartered bus for a railroad station in New York City. There each was given a ticket and the name of the sponsor meeting him at the end of his journey. For 10 of these 84. cost of transportation to America was advanced by longterm. nointerest loan. For the other 74. the cost was paid outright by the United States Government. (Cost of transportation within the United States. was covered by easyterm loans.) Having observed how our officials adminIstered the law dealing with these immigrants. the head of the United States office of the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration wrote to the Immigration Service: "My highest appreciation for the way in which the processing of these migrants was carried out -by the Immigration inspectors. The efficiency and speed of this responsible work aroused my sincere admiration. But I was particularly impressed by the warm. human attitude of the inspectors toward the immigrants. Nothing can more effectively impress upon the minds of these naturally tense and apprehensive people the greatness and human understanding of America than this first contract with United States officials whose kindness and solicitude turn a fearful ordeal into a truly American welcome." Since the end of the war the United States has extended that welcome to more than 400.000 displaced persons. more than one third the total received by all the other countries of the world. And we have done more. For the million refugees who have been resettled in other lands. the United States has paid one third of the total transportation cost. Also. it was an American proposal which led. two years ago. to setting up the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration. aimed to relieve Europes overpopulation problem. Twentyfour nations are members. (The United States pay more than all the others combined.) Now the doors to this country are being opened even more widely. Under an act passed last summer we shall receive in the next 2 years. over and above quota immigration. 209.000 additional refugees. To select and transport them we shall spend an estimated $50 million. "This legislation." said President Eisenhower. "demonstrates again Americas traditional concern for the homeless. the persecuted. the less fortunate of other lands." Here is an answer to those who charge that our immigration policy is one of unconcern for the worlds needy. Look. now. at another page from the record: our treatment of visitors from other countries. The number of visitors Is constantly increasing.