The growth of democratic ideals. concern for ones fellow man. our nonimperialistic interest in the welfare of other peoples and other nations. our eagerness to help the oppressed and our willingness to give to those in need. all stem from our basic JudeoChristian tradition and the accompanying code of morals and ethics which has been passed down to us from father to son. These are the principles which should. and I believe in large measure. do govern us as a Nation in our international dealings. I am therefore the more disturbed when I realize how truly out of harmony with these ideals our existing American policy in the area of immigration and naturalization is. I have. on many occasions past. denounced the McCarranWalter law as discriminatory. but these last few months have demonstrated more clearly than ever before that it is contrary to true American beliefs and inconsistent with our best interest in the field of foreign policy. The President of the United States and incidentally. the Vice President. have had their eyes opened in recent weeks and they are now. it would appear. aware that immigration policy is in reality an integral portion of our foreign policy. The President has indicated that he will use his discretionary powers to permit the entry of even greater numbers of Hungarian refugees. than are authorized by the present refugee act and our immigration laws. While I believe this is right and proper. the lesson that I hope has been learned in Washington is that we need a completely new immigration policy. consistent with our traditional American position as a haven for the oppressed. There is a further thought that is disquieting. The events of the last few months have created other refugee problems. Persecution in Hungary has had the headlines. but there has also been persecution in Egypt. The newspaper reports that I have read. and which appear to be based on responsible and onthescene observations. have reported a consistent Egyptian campaign against the Jewish population in that country.
Keywords matched
naturalization immigration refugee refugees