Speech #850009255

Year after year. since 1924. it has stayed that way and allotments could not be moved though wars. floods. and famine drenched the world. Our own needs and the needs of other countries could not break through the barrier of the quota bonds. Emergency refugee legislation there was. but a price was exacted both in the nature of the legislation enacted and in the administration of that legislation. Each time emergency legislation was called for. the Congress acted painfully and reluctantly. under the new proposals. the allocations are flexible. capable of being moved around within the orbit of American needs and the needs of other peoples. Each year the President may take into account what is happening in the corners of the world. adjust the allotments as justice and conscience dictate. Where in the world are the worst population pressures? Where are the largest influx of refugees? What labor do we needconstruction workers. tailors. mathematicians. scientists. diamond cutters? He can ask. "Isnt it human and right and decent to reunite families?" All these questions may be asked and answered with the knowledge that we can do something about them without the agonizing frustration of the fixed numberthe fixed 308 for Greece. the 865 for Hungary. the thousand or so for Denmark. Into the immigration picture. if we can get this legislation passed. will be added the one ingredient that is most conspicuously absent. that of humanity. Let me pass on to other features of the bill we propose. Under the present law. we have a twoheaded system where officials of the Department of State issue visas to both immigrants and nonimmigrants abroad. while officers of the Department of Justice determine at ports of entry whether the holders of visas are admissible to the United States. This is an antiquated. cumbersome. and expensive system. It creates anxiety and uncertainty in the minds of the immigrants and nonimmigrants alike. and it causes friction between two governmental- agencies operating independently in- the same field and stepping on each others toes. Under my proposal. the entire administration of our immigration and nationality laws will be placed in the hands of a Director of Bureau of Immigration and Citizenship. who will be an Assistant Attorney General. subject to confirmation by the Senate. His officers. acting as immigration attach6s. will be stationed at our consulates abroad and will issue immigrant and nonimmigrant visas after a finding is made that the recipient of a visa is found to be eligible actually to enter the United States. In addition to simplification of procedures and elimination of dual standards. as well as uncertainty in the minds of immigrants or foreign visitors. my proposal will automatically open visa issuance to administrative review in the Department of Justice by the wellqualified and trusted Board of Immigration Appeals. The issuance of diplomatic visas will. of course. remain a function of diplomatic officers of the Department of State. I believe that the administrative system which is proposed will not only provide a more efficient and more equitable issuance of visas abroad. but that it will also bring a great saving to the American taxpayer. . Note we have taken away the life and death power of some consul whose final word on the fate of an applicant cannot be challenged. No longer will the fate of a prospective immigrant be dependent upon the personal whims. caprice or prejudice of a consul who. knowing his judgment cannot be questioned. succumbs almost inevitably to the dehumanizing temptations of absolute power. This is wrong. all wrong. and must be changed. I want to note a few of the other changes we madechanges. while not as dramatic as the elimination of all traces of the national origins system yet which are just as necessary if we are to feel any pride in a just and workable immigration law. Where statutes of limitation have been rubbed out in the present law. we replaced them so that nobody could be deported for an act done 20. 30. or even 50 years ago. We have reworded the law. too. so that there will be no additional grounds for loss of United States citizenship by naturalized citizens which could not apply to nativeborn citizens as well. We have eased the restrictions on adoption. We have liberalized the administration of deportations so that nobody need prove. as he does today. that his deportation would cause exceptionally and extremely unusual hardship. a curious set of words that brought much needless tragedy to some people facing deportation. We have revised the sections of the law that led to useless separation of families. We have given the courts the power to review not only deportation cases but exclusion cases as well. . It has taken many years. many beginnings. many false turns to arrive at a proposal which does justice to all. but we believe we have found the right one now. This is the first proposal madeand there have been others seeking a good lawthat completely. but completely. wipes away all traces of the national origins system. Even the proposal that our quota be based on the 1950 instead of the 1920 census has its roots in the national origins theory. even though there would. under such a count. have been an increase for lowquota countries. The 15 percent limitation we have placed on each country is the assurance that no one country can overshadow another by the mere edict of law. If there are miscalculations in one years allotment. they can be corrected the following year. Once this law is enacted. the watchful eyes of Congress having given its consent to a just law. will not permit unbalanced or unjustified allocations of quotas anywhere. We have a goal to reachan immigration policy that bespeaks the generosity and the warmth of the American people and which. withal. is mindful of Americas own interest. That goal we must reach. each of us. in his way. pulling together to reach it.