Speech #850070137

It is designed to run for two fiscal years beginning July 1. 1957. and in order to permit the Congress to scrutinize carefully its application. the Attorney General is directed to make a detailed report to the Congress in any case in which the provisions of this particular section of my bill are applied. Sixth. Cognizant of the fact that a certain number of immigrants entered our country recently. mostly under the Refugee Relief Act of 1953. as amended. without their wives. parents. and children. my bill provides for the granting of nonquota immigrant status to their relatives if the immigrants petition was approved by the Attorney General prior to March 1. 1957. According to the estimates by the Department of State. approximately 18.000 persons would be admitted to the United States under this provision of my bill. again designed to prevent hardship which ensues the separation of families. Seventh. According to a report filed with the Congress by Secretary Dulles. .15.960 visas remain unissued to German expellees residing in West Germany or in Austria under the Refugee Relief Act of 1953. as amended. Similarly. 1.597 visas remained unissued under the same act to Dutch nationals and 1.099 visas remained unissued to refugees in the Far East who are not indigenous to that area. Under my bill. these 18.656 unused nonquota immigrant visas would be made available by the Department of State to the category of Immigrants for whom they were originally intended. Eighth. My bill would wipe out the "mortgages" imposed on certain small immigration quotas by the Displaced Persons Acts of 1948 and 1950. as well as under two acts affecting the "mortgage" imposed upon the immigration quota for Spain. Ninth. My bill will clarify the application of those provisions of our immigration laws which exclude immigrants who committed petty offenses and would provide for a yardstick in determining whether an offense committed abroad could be classified as a misdemeanor or as a felony. I propose that the determination shall not be based on the applicable foreign law but on the provisions of the United States Code and whenever that code fails to define a crime comparable to the one committed abroad. the criminal code of the District of Columbia. which has the approval of the Congress. would provide the basis for the determination of the nature of the crime. In addition. exceptionally meritorious cases in which the spouse. parent. or the child of a United States citizen or of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence is involved. the Attorney General would be vested with discretionary authority to admit such alien notwithstanding the commission by him of a crime involving moral turpitude if it is determined that the aliens exclusion would result in extreme hardship to his relatives in the United States and that his admission would not be contrary to the national welfare. safety. or security. I have worked out my emergency immigration program very carefully. and I believe that it is the only program which combines a sound. humanitarian approach to immigration problems and all due consideration to our national. economic. and social interests.