Speech #870133284

However. in our own Western Hemisphere. where most nations enjoy a nonquota status. this provision has a tendency to be highly discriminatory. The new nation to be named the West Indies Federation. which includes the island of Jamaica. is an example of a new Western Hemisphere country not enjoying the same nonquota provisions as other nations in our hemisphere. Although I favor tightening up deportation proceedings. the provisions of the bill dealing with judicial review of deportation and exclusion orders pose several unnecessary hazards. In Senate hearings on a previous deportation bill identical in language. several constructive amendments were suggested. all of which I would favor. These included a 1year statute of limitations on filing a petition for review. rather than 6 months. appeals to the district courts. rather than the courts of appeal. and preservation of the declaratory judgment remedy in exclusion cases. I do not question the need for dealing with the tightening of deportation proceedings. We have witnessed several notable cases in recent years that have brought considerable publicity. However. the law should afford every opportunity for the courts of our land to correct any illegal. arbitrary or erroneous administrative determinations. and we must not deny anyone his day in court. Actually. I have considerable doubt as to whether S. 2237 will accomplish its objectives of expediting deportations unless the Immigration Service takes steps to reform its administrative proceedings to avoid multiple decisions in each case. The bill was improved in some respects by amendments agreed to by the conferees. As I indicated. an amendment I offered gives American citizens who adopted alien orphans prior to June 30. 1961. by proxy adoption. the right to file a petition for nonquota status for the orphan with the Attorney General up to September 30. This amendment will permit a number of families who adopted alien orphans prior to June 30. without filing a petition with the Attorney General. to file the petition and bring their adopted child to this country. Another amendment which was accepted provides that nonquota immigrant visas will be issued on the basis of petitions filed with the Attorney General prior to July 1. 1961. rather than on the basis of petitions which have been approved by the Attorney General prior to that date. This amendment will permit approval of those cases which might have been subject to administrative delay. through no fault of the alien. in which applications were filed prior to the cutoff date. Other provisions of this bill amend certain rules of evidence. help to combat attempts by aliens to enter the United States through nonquota status by fraud. and grant to Korean veterans the same naturalization benefits given to World War I and World War II veterans. These are all useful changes in the law. In spite of the many humanitarian provisions which I have outlined. the bill still falls far short of the pledges made to reform our immigation policy in both the Democratic and Republican platforms. The Democratic platform pledged in part: We shall adjust our immigration. nationality. and refugee policies to eliminate discrimination and to enable members of scattered families abroad to be united with relatives already in our midst. The Republican platform plank on which I testified before the Republican platform committee pledged specifically: Immigration has historically been a great factor in the growth of the United States. not only in numbers but in the enrichment of ideas that immigrants have brought with them. This Republican administration has. given refuge to over 32.000 victims of Communist tyranny from Hungary. ended needless delay In processing applications for naturalization. and has urged other enlightened legislation to liberalize existing restrictions. Immigration has been reduced to the point where it does not provide the stimulus to growth that it should. nor are we fulfilling our obligation as a haven for the oppressed. Republican conscience and Republican policy require that: The annual number of immigrants we accept be at least doubled. obsolete immigration laws be amended by abandoning the outdated 1920 census data as a base and substituting the 1960 census. the guidelines of or immigration policy be based upon Judgment of the individual merit of each applicant for admission and citizenship. Early in this session of the Congress. I introduced and cosponsored legislation which would carry out many of the principles underlying both party platforms. Under these bills. S. 551 and S. 552. several substantial changes in our immigration laws would be enacted. Briefly. S. 551 and S. 552 would grant aliens admission to the United States as parolees when they have had to flee from areas of the world because of persecution on racial. religious or political grounds or from areas where forces are at work against the best interests of our country. After 2 years residence in the United States. the status of these parolees would be changed to that of permanent residents at the discretion of the Attorney General. This proposal is designed to provide for emergencies caused by future Hungarys or Cubas. In addition. this proposal would also provide for the issuance of 40.000 nonquota immigrant visas to refugeeescapees in a 2year period. Many deserving refugees from all parts of the world would be eligible to enter the United States under this provision. Of the total 40.000. 5.000 would be nonresettled. hardcore refugees. To assist in the settlement of these refugees. $5 million would be made available to Government agencies and private organizations for such resettlement purposes. It is morally indefensible for us to care less or to do less. Other sections of these bills would revise the present quota system by basing it upon the 1960 census. This would certainly be a recognition of the times in which we are living. Unused quota numbers under my proposal would be pooled and reallocated by Executive order of the President.