Speech #840076875

The system of quotas by national origin Is weighted heavily in favor of AngloSaxons and Northern Europeans. Other Europeans. as well as the Asian races. have a very slim chance of coming to the United States as permanent residents. Between 1945 and 1948 several laws were passed that allowed 500.000 refugees. war brides of American military personnel. and others to enter the United States outside of the quota system. Two additional laws have led to considerable controversy. The first. known as the McCarranWalter Act. passed in 1952. reaffirmed the quota system. setting a limit of 154.657 on the number of immigrants who may come from Europe. Africa. and Asia each year. The second piece of legislation was the Refugee Relief Act of 1953. It permits 209.000 refugees to enter the United States over and above regular quotas. and before December 31. 1956. In addition. it provides visas for 5.000 refugees who are presently in the country. The law allows 102.000 refugees from communism who are temporarily living in Western Europe. the NATO nations. and Iran to find sanctuary here. Provision is made for 2.000 refugees from Palestine. 7.000 from the Far East. and 94.000 Italians. Greeks. and Dutch. as well as 4.000 orphans. Of this total of 209.000. only 16.000 had been admitted up to April 8 of this year. The delay in carrying out this program has caused considerable dissatisfaction. especially among the refugees themselves. who are discouraged by some of the unreasonable requirements. To get a visa he must give satisfactory personal history for 2 years preceding his application. In our strict efforts to screen these people in order to prevent subversive elements from being smuggled into the United States under the refugee law. we are penalizing good and innocent people. In many cases. due to the fact that they have fled from Sovietoccupied countries. it is impossible for them to prove their personal history for the 2 years preceding their application. Oftentimes because they have no relatives or friends in the United States. they cannot obtain guaranties of jobs and homes from a United States citizen. Religious and charitable organizations are doing their best to assist these people. but Government redtape continues to "foul up" the implementation of the Refugee Relief Act. The McCarranWalter Immigration Act was passed over President Trumans opposition and his veto. The Refugee Relief Act was later passed to ease its severity. which was causing us to lose goodwill among our friends and allies abroad. Relief was turning out to be repressive. In January 1955. Edward Corsi. of New York. prominent Republican. was hired to get the Refugee Relief Act going. After 3 months he was fired by Secretary of State John Foster Dulles. This touched off a storm of charges and countercharges.