Speech #890060344

Fifth preference. 20 percent to brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens. Sixth preference. 20 percent to persons with skills which are found by the Secretary of Labor to be unavailable or in short supply in this country. Seventh preference. 10 percent to refugees from Communist tyranny and oppression with a proviso that up to onehalf of this number may be used by persons who have been offered a temporary refuge in this country upon a finding that they are unable or unwilling to return to their homelands because of persecution or fear thereof. and only after 2 years residence in this country. Only after the above preferences have been satisfied will visa numbers which remain to be made available on a firstcome. firstserved order of registration to nonpreference applicants on a worldwide basis. Within this nonpreference class there is created a reserve. under the control of the President. by which he may reallocate up to onehalf the available numbers to nationals of countries who may be adversely affected by the immediate termination of the national origins quota system. For example. in Germany and the United Kingdom where the largest quota allocations are available. there has been no occasion or opportunity for desiring immigrants to register on a consular waiting list as was necessary for thousands of nationals of countries with heavily oversubscribed quotas. Consequently. in a worldwide competition for nonpreference numbers. such nationals may be unfairly disadvantaged particularly in the years immediately following the passage of the bill. The Presidents reserve would also. be available to increase the number of refugees who could be admitted should a sudden. abnormal refugee situation occur. such as arose in Austria after the 1956 unsuccessful revolt of the Hungarian freedom fighters. or to take care of disaster situations such as occurred in the Azores in 1957 which necessitated special legislation to authorize admission of a number of its victims. Section 203(b) amends the present act to provide that the priority date for all preference immigrants shall be the date on which a petition to accord such a preference has been filed with the Attorney General. Sections 203 (c) and (d) substantially reiterate provisions contained in the present act on the priority of consideration of visa applicants and the prohibition against a consul issuing a preference visa unless and until a petition has been approved. Technical changes in language caused by the elimination of the quota system are also made. Section 204 rewrites the present sections 204 and 205 to combine a single procedure for the filing of visa petitions with the Attorney General to accord the seven preference classifications described in section 203. This section also continues a limitation on the number of orphans who may be adopted by a single family to two. It also prohibits the approval of a petition for an alien who has been found to have married a citizen or permanent resident alien for the purpose of gaining a preference under the immigration laws. Section 205 repeats the present section 206 of the act providing for the revocation of visa petition approvals for fraud. illegality. or change of status. Section 206 changes present section 207 of the act to permit the reissue to another applicant under the same number. a visa not used by the initial holder of the visa. Section 2 of the bill amends three definitions contained in the present act: It repeals the present nonquota provisions of the act. but continues to classify as immigrants. and continues to exempt from the numerical ceiling. aliens already admitted as immigrants who are returning to the United States after a temporary absence abroad. and aliens who are natives of independent countries of the Western Hemisphere. It repeals the definition and concept of a quota immigrant and defines the professional classes of preference immigrants to include doctors. lawyers. teachers. professors. clergymen. and engineers. It defines in one place an "eligible orphan." the confusing definition of which exists currently in three separate sections of the law. Section 3 of the bill essentially repeats the language of the present act which requires a visa and a passport for every arriving immigrant. It broadens the authority of the Attorney General to waive these documents for returning residents. Section 4 of the bill makes technical changes in the language of the excluding provisions contained in section 212 of the act. The material changes are: The words "mentally retarded" are substituted for the language "feebleminded." "Epilepsy" is deleted as a mandatory exclusion ground. Both of the above changes were based on the testimony of the Surgeon Generals office. Other changes are required to delete language which would become obsolete with the elimination of the quota system. Section 5 of the bill removes the word "physical" from the language of section 243(h) of the act which permits the Attorney General to stay the deportation of an alien whom he believes would be subjected to (physical) persecution on his return to his homeland. This provision recognizes that the more subtle. mental. moral. and emotional sanctions imposed on their captive citizens by these totalitarian regimes are no less a basis for our refusal to return these people to their native lands and to such oppression. This sanction also makes other conforming changes. Section 6 of the bill amends section 244 of the act. the suspension of deportation procedures. to make eligible for that privilege citizens of Western Hemisphere countries and aliens who entered the United States as crewmen. presently ineligible under the terms of the current act. Section 7 of the bill amends section 245 of the act. the adjustment of status procedure. to make eligible for adjustment to permanent residence within this country. any alien in the United States (other than a native of the Western Hemisphere) who. if abroad. would be eligible for the immediate issuance of a visa. It removes the current ineligibility of crewmen for the privilege. Section 8 of the bill amends section 249. the "registry" provisions. by advancing the date of entry of eligibles from June 28. 1940. to December 24. 1952. Under the amendment. any alien who entered the United States prior to the latter date and has resided here since. and is of good character. may be granted the status of a permanent resident. The section is. in effect. a limited statute of limitation against deportation. All cases which result in the grant of permanent residence status by application within the United States under sections 244. 245. and 249 will also result in the deduction of 1 number in the overall ceiling of 225.000 immigrants a year. Section 9 of the bill prescribes a uniform cost for Immigrant visa Issuance of $20. and authorizes the partial deposit or prepayment of such fee at the time of registration. Section 10 of the bill repeals the Pair Share Refugee Act (secs. 1. 2. and 11 of the act of July 14. 1960). rendered unnecessary by the provisions for visa issuance to refugees under the preference classification of section 203(a) (7) of the bill. The repeal of this provision should result In the use of the more appropriate visaissuing procedure as the method of documenting allen refugees for admission to this country and to limit the use of the parole provisions of the act (sec. 212(d) (5)) to the purposes originally intendedthe temporary reception of persons arriving in the United States without documentation and under emergent circumstances. e.g.. shipwrecked crewmen. and so forth.