Speech #850273038

Then the lace curtain Irish bemoaned the coming of the "Kikes" and "Dagoes." Now all united to deprecate the coming of the Puerto Ricans. This pending bill has its genesis in that policy of the "dislike of the unlike" or the general antipathy of aliens. We have this bill further to restrict the judicial process of those who are ordered to be excluded and/or deported. for one reason or another. The proposers of the bill want to shorten the judicial process or prevent its abuse. I have no quarrel with that. but the form this bill takes is a shotgun approach. hurting the thousands of good and innocent aliens. who have honest and legal and justifiable grievances. just to get after a few. a very few. bad cases. This bill demonstrates how true the old saying is. "Bad cases make bad law." Out of the frustration of the Department of Justice. aggravated by the fact that a few admittedly undesirable aliens were able to thwart the administrative process under which their deportation from the United States could be effectuated. comes a legislative proposal which might take care of the infinitesimal number of aggravating cases. but would hurt indiscriminately many thousands of aliens who might. of no fault of their own. find themselves in technical violation of the law. In my views which constitute a part of the committee report on this bill. I have quoted figures supplied by the Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization attesting to the accuracy of the statement I just made. An exceedingly small number of deportation cases ever reach the courts and a much smaller amount of litigation could be justifiably attributed to the aliens desire to play for time. As a matter of fact. when the Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization went over his files at my request. he was able to produce not more than seven cases where it appeared quite clearly that the sole purpose of litigation was to delay the execution of outstanding orders of deportation. The seven cases look bad. That much is true. but they are 7 cases out of 13.168 cases in which administrative hearings in deportation proceedings were held in the fiscal year 1957. Only 76 habeas corpus petitions were filed in that entire year and only 22 cases reached the United States circuit courts of appeals. In addition to that. and I am still relying on figures supplied by the Commissioner. the number of deportation cases under litigation shows a sustained downward trend so that the often advanced argument in support of this legislation. namely. the pointing out to the necessity of relieving our overburdened courts. is thoroughly fallacious. Statistics show that declaratory judgment actions and habeas corpus proceedings have been steadily declining in the courts. For the past 4 years the combined figures for such actions and proceedings are as follows: Year: Cases 1954 -------------------------368 1955 ------------------------- 277 1956 -------------------------227 1957 -------------------------153 It must also be borne in mind. that even under present procedures. the courts have not been powerless to prevent or to restrict unnecessary or repetitious litigation. There are a number of .reported decisions by the courts denying the right to bring a declaratory judgment action when the same relief had been. or could have been. sought in a prior declaratory judgment action or habeas corpus proceeding. and a petition for review under the Administrative Procedure Act has been denied where an alien already had adverse review in a habeas corpus proceeding. As a matter of fact. this bill would contribute to increasing the burden now carried by the courts rather than diminish it. and the reason for that is the fact that the bill carries a statute of limitation under which suit will have to be filed prior to the expiration of 6 months immediately following the exhaustion of administrative remedies available to the alien. Because of this statute of limitation the voluntary agencies who advise aliens regarding their immigration cases as well as attorneys who up to now have felt it in the interest of their client to postpone court litigation to the last possible moment. will now have to change their approach and appeal to the court at a much earlier stage of proceedings in order not to find themselves precluded from seeking judicial review. Administrative remedies such as gubernatorial or Presidential pardons. staying of deportation because of fear of persecution. reopening administrative proceedings because of newly discovered evidence. suspension of deportation on the ground of hardship. and so forth. may not be exhausted within the 6 months immediately following the issuance of an order of deportation. It is. therefore. quite certain that many thousands of suits will be filed in the courts for the understandable and justifiable reason of protection for the alien. A further increase of burden upon our courts will be brought about by forcing all litigati n in deportation cases into the 11 circuit courts of appeals instead of the 93 Federal district courts which now have primary jurisdiction in these matters. Very few cases. again as demonstrated oy Commissioner Swings figures. inclu led in my minority report and in the hearings held on July 10. 1958. reach the courts of appeal. but under this bill the entire volume of litigation will fall upon the court of appeals. 10 of them rather than 11 because under another provision of the bill. for practical purposes. the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia would be eliminated. To sum up: This is an unnecessary. restrictive. harsh. unjustified. and punitive piece of legislation with which the House of Representatives should certainly not be called upon to concern itself at thi3 critical juncture of our domestic ant. foreign problems.