Speech #880067946

The bill will be received and appropriately referred. and. without objection. the bill and sectionbysection analysis will be printed in the RECORD. and the bill will lie on the desk. as requested by the Senator from Michigan. The bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act. and for other purposes. introduced by Mr. HART (for himself and other Senators). was received. read twice by its title. referred Julj 24 to the Committee on the Judiciary. and ordered to be printed In the RECORD. as follows: Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled. That section 201 (a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (66 Stat. 175. 8 U.S.C. 1151(a)) be amended to read as follows: "SEc. 201. (a) The annual quota of any quota area shall be the same quota heretofore determined under the provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952: Provided. That the minimum quota for any quota area shall be two hundred: Provided further. That beginning with the first fiscal year commencing after the enactment of this Act and for each of the four succeeding fiscal years the annual quota of every quota area shall be reduced by twenty per centum of Its present number for each such fiscal year. The quota numbers so deducted from quotas of quota areas shall be added to the quota reserve established by subsection (f) of this section and shall be available for distribution in accordance with the provisions thereof." SEC. 2. Section 201 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (66 Stat. 175. 8 U.S.C. 1151) is amended by adding the following additional subsection: "(f) Quota numbers made available at the commencement of any fiscal year as a result of the reduction of the annual quota of any quota areas pursuant to subsection (a) of this section. together with quota numbers not issued or otherwise used during the previous fiscal year. shall then be made available (1) during the five fiscal years following the passage of this Act. to quota Immigrants. if otherwise admissible under the provisions of this Act. who are unable to obtain prompt issuance of visas due to oversubscription of their quotas or subquotas as determined by the Secretary of State. and (2). thereafter. to quota immigrants if otherwise admissible under the provisions of this Act. These quota numbers shall be allocated within the percentage limitations and in the order of priority specified in section 203 without regard to the quota to which the alien is chargeable: Provided. however. That the combined number of quota numbers issued to any quota area In any year. under the provisions of this subsection and subsection (a) of this section. shall not exceed ten per centum of the total quota numbers authorized for that year: Provided further. That in no case shall this limitation operate to reduce any quota in any of the five fiscal years following the enactment of this Act by more than the twenty per centum specified in subsection (a) of this section: And provided further. That the President may. after consultation with the Immigration Board. reserve"(1) Not to exceed fifty per centum of such numbers for allocation to quota immigrants. If otherwise admissible under the provisions of this Act. whose admission is determined by him to be required (A) to avoid undue hardship. resulting from the reduction of annual quotas pursuant to subsection (a) of this section. which is not otherwise avoided under the provisions of this subsection. and (B) in the national security interest of the United States: Provided. That the limitation on immigration from any single country in any year shall not apply to visas issued under this clause. and "(2) Not to exceed twenty per centum of such numbers for allocation to quota Immigrants. if otherwise admissible under the provisions of this Act. whose admission will further the traditional policy of the United States of offering asylum and refuge to persons oppressed or persecuted. or threatened with oppression or persecution. because of their race. color. religion. national origin. adherence to democratic beliefs. or their opposition to totalitarianism or dictatorship. and to persons uprooted by natural calamity or military operations who are unable to return to their usual place of abode. After consultation with the Attorney General. the Secretary of State shall establish by regulation the requirements for qualification within this class. with reference to current world conditions. In no case shall the authority to reserve such numbers. or the limitation on the combined number of quota numbers to be issued to any quota area in any year. operate so as to require that authorized quota numbers be unused." SEc. 3. Section 201(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (66 Stat. 176. 8 U.S.C. 1151(c)) Is amended to read as follows: "There shall be issued to quota immigrants chargeable to any quota (1) no more immigrant visas in any fiscal year than the quota for such year. and (2) in any calendar month of any fiscal year. no more immigrant visas than ten per centum of the quota for such year in addition to that portion of the quota authorized for Issuance but not issued during any preceding calendar month or months of the same fiscal year. except that during the last two months of any fiscal year immigrant visas may be issued without regard to the 10 per centum limitation contained herein." SEC. 4. (a) Section 202(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (66 Stat. 176. 8 U.S.C. 1152(a)) is amended by deleting paragraph (5) thereof. (b) Section 202(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (66 Stat. 177. 8 U.S.C. 1152 (b)) is repealed. (c) Section 202(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (66 Stat. 177. 8 U.S.C. 1152 (c)) is redesignated section 202(b) and is amended to read as follows: "Any immigrant born in a colony or other component or dependent area of a governing county for which no separate or specific quota has been established. unless a nonquota immigrant as provided in section 101(a) (27) of this Act. shall be chargeable to the quota of the governing country. except that no more persons born in any such colony or other component or dependent area overseas from the governing country shall be chargeable to the quota of its governing country in any one year than a number which bears the same relation to the quota of its governing country as the number two hundred bears to the quota of the governing country prior to the enactment of this Act." (d) Section 202(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (66 Stat. 178. 8 U.S.C. 1152(d) ) is redesignated section 202(c). (e) Section 202(e) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (66 Stat. 178). as amended (75 Stat. 654). (8 U.S.C. 1152(e) ) is redesignated section 202(d) and is further amended by substituting "section 202(b)" for "section 202(c)(1)" after the words "issued under". SEC. 5. Section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (66 Stat. 181. 8 U.S.C. 1157) is repealed. and the following inserted in its place: "A quota immigrant visa shall not be issued to any alien who is eligible for a nonquota immigrant visa." SEC. 6. Paragraph (27) (A) of section 101 (a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (66 Stat. 169. 8 U.S.C. 1101(a) (27) (A)) is amended to read as follows: "(A) An immigrant who is the child. spouse. or parent of a citizen of the United States." SE. 7. Paragraph (27) (C) of section 101 (a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (66 Stat. 169. 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(27)(C) is amendedto read as follows: "(C) An Immigrant who was born in any independent foreign country of North. Central. or South America. or in any independent island country adjacent thereto. or in the Canal Zone. and the spouse and children of any such immigrant. if accompanying or following to join him:". SSEc. (a) Section 203(a) (1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (66 Stat. 178. 8 U.S.C. 1153(a) (1)) is amended by deleting the words "determined by the Attorney General to be needed urgently in." and substituting the words "especially advantageous to" (b) Section 203(a) (2) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (66 Stat. 178). as amended (73 Stat. 644. 8 U.S.C. 1153(a)(2)). is amended by deleting the words "parents of citizens of the United States. such citizens being at least twentyone years of age or who are the". (c) Section 203(a) (4) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (66 Stat. 178). as amended (73 Stat. 644. 8 U.S.C. 1153(a)(4)) is amended by(1) inserting after the words "married daughters of citizens of the United States" a comma. followed by the words "or parents of aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence." and (2) adding at the end thereof the following: "Qualified quota immigrants capable of performing specified functions for which a shortage of employable and willing persons exists in the United States shall be entitled to a preference not to exceed 50 per centum of the immigrant visas remaining available for issuance under this paragraph after the preference to the named relatives of United States citizens and resident aliens is satisfied or exhausted." SEc. 9. Section 204 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (66 Stat. 179. 8 U.S.C. 1154) is amended as follows: (1) Subsections (a) and (c) are amended by deleting the words "or section 203(a) (1) (A)" and substituting. in each instance. a comma. followed by the words "section 203 (a) (1) (A) or the last clause of section 203 (a) (4)." (2) Subsection (b) is amended (A) by deleting the words "section 203(a) (1) (A)" and substituting the words "the last clause of section 203(a) (4)" and (B) by inserting. after the words "required by the Attorney General" the words "after consultation with the Immigration Board." (3) Subsection (d) is redesignated (e) and is amended by deleting the words "or section 203(a) (1) (A)." and substituting a comma. followed by the words "section 203 (a) (1) (A) or the last clause of section 203 (a) (4)." (4) The following new subsection is inserted after subsection (c) : "(d) Any immigrant claiming in his application to be entitled to an immigrant visa under section 203(a) (1) (A) of the Act shall file a petition with the Attorney General. The petition shall be in such form as the Attorney General may by regulations prescribe and shall contain such additional information and be supported by such documentary evidence as may be required by the Attorney General. The petition shall be made under oath administered by any individual having* authority to administer oaths. if executed in the United States. but. if executed outside the United States. administered by a consular officer." SEC. 10. The first sentence of section 205 (b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (66 Stat. 180). as amended (73 Stat. 644). (8 U.S.C. 1155(b)) is amended to read as follows: "(b) Any citizen of the United States claiming that any immigrant is his spouse. child. or parent. and that such immigrant is entitled to a nonquota immigrant status under section 101 (a) (27) (A) of this Act. or any citizen of the United States claiming that any immigrant is his unmarried son or unmarried daughter and that such immigrant is entitled to a quota immigrant status under section 203(a) (2) of this Act. or any alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence claiming that any Immigrant is his spouse or his unmarried son or unmarried daughter and that such immigrant Is entitled to a quota immigrant status under section 203 (a) (3) of this Act. or any citizen of the United States claiming that any immigrant is his brother or sister or his married son or his married daughter and that such immigrant is entitled to a preference under section 203(a) (4) of this Act. or any alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence claiming that any immigrant is his parent and that such immigrant is entitled to a preference under section 203(a) (4) of this Act. may file a petition with the Attorney General." SEC. 11. (a) Section 1 of the Act of July 14. 1960 (74 Stat. 504). is amended by inserting the word "and" after the words "communistoccupied." by inserting a period after the word "made." and by deleting the third clause of said section and the word "and" immediately preceding it. (b) Section 2 of the Act of July 14. 1960 (74 Stat. 504). as amended (76 Stat. 124). is amended by deleting (1) the letter "(a)" immediately following the words "SEC. 2". and (2) subsection (b) thereof. SEC. 12. Section 15(c)(2) of the Act of September 11. 1957 (71 Stat. 644) is amended by deleting the word "Libya" and inserting the word "Morocco" in its place. SEC. 13. Section 281 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (66 Stat. 230. 8 U.S.C. 1351) is amended as follows: (1) Immediately after "SEc. 281." insert "(a) ". (2) Paragraph (2) is amended to read as follows: "(2) For the issuance of each immigrant visa. $20. except that such fee shall be $10 in the case of any alien who is the beneficiary of a petition required under sections 204(b) or 205(b)." (3) The following is inserted after paragraph (7). and is designated subsection (b) : "The time and manner of payment of the fees specified in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a) of this section. including but not limited to partial deposit or prepayment at the time of registration. or postponement for an appropriate period. shall be prescribed by the Secretary of State." (4) The paragraph beginning with the words "The fees * " is designated subsection (c). Szc. 14. Section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (66 Stat. 179. 8 U.S.C. 1153(c)). is amended by adding at the end thereof the following: "The Secretary of State. in his discretion. may terminate the registration on a quota waiting list of any alien who fails to evidence his continued intention to apply for a visa in such manner as may be by regulation prescribed." SEC. 15. (a) Paragraph (4) of section 212 (a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (66 Stat. 182. 8 U.S.C. 1182(a) (4)) is amended by deleting the word "epilepsy" and the commas before and after it. (b) Section 212(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (75 Stat. 654. 8 U.S.C. 1182(g) ) is amended to read as follows: "Any alien who is excludable from the United States under paragraphs (1). (2). (3). or (4) of subsection (a) of this section. and any alien afflicted with tuberculosis in any form. who (A) is the spouse or the unmarried son or daughter. or the minor unmarried lawfully adopted child. of a United States citizen. or of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence. or of an alien who has been issued an immigrant visa. or (B) has a son or daughter who is a United States. citizen. or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence. or an alien who has been issued an immigrant visa. shall. If otherwise admissible. be issued a visa and admitted to the United States for permanent residence in accordance with such terms. conditions. and controls. if any. including the giving of a bond. as the Attorney General. in his discretion after consultation with the Surgeon General of the United States Public Health Service. may by regulations prescribe." SEC. 16. (a) There is hereby established the Immigration Board (hereafter referred to as the "Board"). The Board shall consist of seven members. of whom three members. including a chairman of the Board. shall be appointed by the President. two members by the President of the Senate. and two members by the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The members of the Board shall be selected by virtue of their high personal integrity. their capabilities. and their experience in and expert knowledge of immigration laws and international migration problems. A vacancy in the membership of the Board shall be filled in the same manner as the original designation and appointment. (b) The duties of the Board shall be(1) to promulgate. after consultation with the Attorney General. such regulations as are necessary to insure its efficient functioning under the provisions of this Act. (2) to make a continuous study of such conditions within and without the United States. which. in the opinion of the Board. might have any bearing on the immigration policy of the United States. (3) to consider. and after consultation with the Secretary of State. to recommend to the President. such allocation of quota immigrant visas. under section 201 (f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. as will best fulfill the purposes of that section. (4) to consider. and after consultation with the secretaries of Labor. State. and Defense. to recommend to the Attorney General such criteria for admission of immigrants under section 203(a) (1) (A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. as amended. and the last clause of section 203(a) (4). as amended. as will further the policy of the United States to secure the immigration of persons of high skill. education. or training. or who are capable of performing specified functions for which a shortage of employable. willing persons exists in the United States. (5) to study such other aspects of the Immigration and Nationality Act as the President shall assign to the Board for study. and make recommendations with respect thereto. (6) to conduct such investigations and to hold such public and executive hearings in such places within and without the United States and at such times as the Board deems necessary. (c) All Federal agencies shall cooperate fully with the Board to the end that it may effectively carry out its duties. (d) Each member of the Board who is not otherwise in the service of the Government of the United States shall receive the sum of $75 for each day spent in the work of the Board. shall be paid actual travel expenses. and per diem in lieu of subsistence expenses. when away from his usual place of residence. In accordance with section 5 of the Administrative Expenses Act of 1946. as amended. (e) Each member of the Board who is otherwise in the service of the Government of the United States shall serve without compensation In addition to that received for such other service. but while engaged In the work of the Board shall be paid actual travel expenses. and per diem in lieu of subsistence expenses. when away from his usual place of residence. in accordance with the Administrative Expenses Act of 1946. as amended. (f) There is authorized to be appropriated. out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. so much as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this section. SEc. 17. Section 221 (g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act" (66 Stat. 192. 8 U.S.C. 1201(g)) is amended by deleting the period at the end thereof and by substituting the following: "Provided further. That a visa may be issued to an alien defined In section 101 (a) (15) (B) or (F). if such alien is otherwise entitled to receive a visa. upon receipt of a notice by the consular officer from the Attorney General of the giving of a bond with sufficient surety in such sum and containing such conditions as the consular officer shall prescribe. to insure that at the expiration of the time for which such alien has been admitted by the Attorney General. as provided in section 214(a). or upon failure to maintain the status under which he was admitted. or to maintain any status subsequently acquired under section 248 of the Act. such alien will depart from the United States." The sectionbysection analysis presented by Mr. HART is as follows: SECTIONBYSEcTioN ANALYSIS Section 1 amends section 201(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. under which quotas for each country are determined. It abolishes the national origins system by reducing present quotas by onefifth of their present number each year for 5 years. As numbers are released from national origins quotas. they are added to the quota reserve established in section 2. Thus in the first year. 20 percent (roughly 32.800) are released to the pool. in the second year. the pool has 40 percent of present quotas (or 65.600). until the fifth year. all numbers are allocated through the pool. To provide some immediate relief to minimum quota areas. the minimum quota is raised to 200. but is then reduced in the same manner as other quotas. Section 2 establishes the quota reserve pool under which all numbers will be allocated by the fifth year. In each of the 5 years constituting the period of transition. the pool will consist of (1) the numbers released from national origins quotas each year. and (2) numbers assigned to the old quotas but unused the previous year because insufficient demand for them existed in the assigned quota area. These numbers are issued in the order specified in amended section 203 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. That is. first call on the first 50 percent is given to persons whose admission. by virtue of their exceptional skill. training. or education. would be especially advantageous to the United States. first call on the next 30 percent. plus any part of the first 50 percent not issued to the skilled specialists. is given to unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens. not eligible for nonquota status because they are over 21 years of age. first call on the remaining 20 percent. plus any part of the first 80 percent not taken by the first two classes. is given to spouses and children of aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence. and any portion remaining is issued to other applicants. with percentage preferences to other relations of U.S. citizens and resident aliens. and then to certain classes of workers. Section 203 further provides that within each class. visas are issued in the order in which applied forfirst come. first served. These preferences provisions. which under present law determine only relative priority between nationals of the same country. will now determine priority between nationals of different countries throughout the world. To prevent disproportionate benefits to the nationals of any single country. a maximum of 10 percent of the total authorized quota is set on immigration attributable to any quota area. However. this limitation is not applied if to do so would result in reducing any quota at a more rapid rate than that July. 24 provided by section 1. Ultimately. of course. the limitation applies to all. Exceptions to the principle of allocating visas on the basis of time of registration within preference classes are provided to deal with specific problems. Since some countries quotas are now current. their nationals have no old registrations on file. To apply the principle rigidly would result. after 4 or 5 years. in curtailing immigration from these countries almost entirely.. Such a result would be undesirable not only because it frustrates the aim of the bill that immigration from all countries should continue. but also because many of the countries so affected are our closest allies. At a time when the national security rests in large part on a continual strengthening of our ties with these countries. it would be anomalous indeed to restrict opportunities for their nationals here. Therefore. the bill allows the President. after consultation with the Immigration Board (established by sec. 16). to reserve up to 50 percent of the reserve pool for allocation to qualified immigrants (1) who could obtain visas under the present system but not under the new bill. whose admission (2) would further the national security interest in maintaining close ties with their countries. He is also given authority to grant visas to such immigrants without regard to the 10percent limit on the number of immigrants from any country. The President may also disregard priority of registration within preference classes for the benefit of refugees. Many refugees. almost by definition. are uprooted suddenly. They have had no thought of immigration before being forced to leave their usual homes by natural calamity or political upheaval. or they may be fleeing from persecution or dictatorship. in which case previous registration would have been dangerous. He may consider these and other factors in deciding whether to admit any applicant as a refugee or require him to await his turn under the regular procedure. Finally. It Is provided that if the President reserves. against contingencies. any numbers during the year. but does not then find them needed for the named purposes. they are to be issued as If not reserved. Similarly. the 10percent limitation on the number of visas to be issued to any quota area is removed where other persons would not be foreclosed from entry by its removal. Section 3 amends section 201(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. which presently limits the number of visas Issued in any single month to 10 percent of the total issued each year. This limit is needed to insure that persons entitled to preference by virtue of skills or family ties will not be foreclosed from that preference by a rush of earlier applications which exhaust the annual quota. To insure that all numbers are nevertheless issued. present law provides that numbers not issued during the first 10 months may be issued during the last 2 months of the fiscal year. without limitation up to the total annual quota for the quota area. Often. if close to the full 10 percent is not issued in each of the first months. undesirable administrative problems result In the last two. The amendment allows the issuance each month of the 10 percent authorized for that month plus any visas authorized but not issued in previous months. It thus allows more even spacing of visa issuance during the year. Section 4 amends section 202 of the Immigration and Nationality Act to eliminate the socalled AsiaPacific triangle provisions. which require persons of Asian stock to be attributed to quota areas not by their place of birth. but according to their racial ancestry. By the end of 5 years. this provision would be superfluous in any case. since national origin will no longer limit the admission of qualified immigrants. But the formula is so specially discriminatory that it should be removed immediately. and not operate even in part during the 5year transition period. Subsection (c) raises the minimum allotment to subquotas of dependent countries. thus preserving their present equality with independent minimumquota areas. The dependent countries allotments are taken from the mother countries quotas. To prevent the dependent countries from preempting the mother countries quotas disproportionately. it is provided that the dependent countries shares of the quotas will decrease as the governing countries quotas are reduced. Subsection (e) conforms the present section 202(e) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to the change in designation prescribed in subsection (c). Section 5 repeals section 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. which prevents the issuance of visas in lieu of those issued but not actually used. or later found to be improperly issued. Thus in Germany alone. under present law. over 7.000 visas are taken by persons entitled to nonquota status. and 2.000 more visas are issued to persons who do not apply for actual admission. All these visas are lost. Such a result is inconsistent with the new bill. which seeks full use of authorized quota numbers. Substituted for section 207 is a specific command that nonquota immigrants shall not preempt visas which would otherwise be issued to quota immigrants. Section 6 amends section 101(a) (27) (A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. which grants nonquota status to spouses and children of U.S. citizens. to extend nonquota status to parents of U.S. citizens as well. Section 7 amends section 101 (a) (27) (C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to extend nonquota status to all natives of independent Western Hemisphere countries. Under present law. such status is granted to natives of all independent North. Central. and South American countries. and of all Caribbean island countries independent when the Immigration and Nationality Act was enacted in 1952. The amendment extends the status to countries gaining their independence since then. Section 8 amends section 203(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. which establishes preferences for immigrants with special skills and relatives of U.S. citizens and resident aliens. Subsection (a) relaxes the test for the first preference accorded to persons of high education. technical training. specialized experience. or exceptional ability. Under present law. such persons are granted preferred status only if their services are "needed urgently" in the United States.