Speech #890119611

You may ask yourself the questionWhy? I would say to you the answer is very simple. Because as a device to control immigration by predetermined percentages of national and racial stocks. the national origins system has been a failure and it today is but a fiction. Since the 1952 law was enacted. only approximately onethird of all aliens admitted to the United States were quota immigrants admitted in accordance with racial or national eligibility. Furthermore. the symbol of the national origins system. as I have said. has been a fiction over the years since World War II. It has been the basis for attack on our immigration policy and has presented an opportunity for some to misrepresent our Nations aims in this area when it in fact has had little to do with our immigration pattern since World War II. Therefore the subcommittee unanimously agreed that it should be changed and replaced by immigration reform. I think the House should know that over 3 million aliens have been admitted to this country as immigrants since 1952. This immigration was achieved in spite of the quota formula of the 1952 act. Nonquota admission. administrative relief. private immigration bills. and a series of emergency and tentative enactments all circumvented the statute of .1952. Of the 3 million immigrants who -entered this country. since 1952. I call � your attention that more than 60 percent have been nonquota entrants into this country. meaning that they have come without the quota systemoutside the national origins system. For example. during the 10year period from 1953 to 1963. a total of 119.677 immigrants came to the United States from China. Japan. and the Philippines and of this figure of 119.677. approximately 109.000 were nonquota immigrants. These facts may startle those who read our laws and find that Japan has an annual quota of 185. that the Philippines has a quota of 100. and that China has a quota of 205 total per year. The reason I point this out is. in a way. to verify the statement I have made with respect to the national origins system. Notwithstanding the fact that these countries. as just namedJapan. the Philippines. and Chinahave a total combined quota of 490. during a 10year period approximately 119.000 immigrants have come from these three nations. I should like to submit a table which will be expressive of the manner in which our immigration has not flowed from the national origins channel which was set forth in the 1952 act: Annual quota China -------------1 00 Greece ------------- 308 Hungary ------------865 Italy ---------------5.666 Japan -------------- 185 Poland ------------- 6.488 Portugal ------------ 438 Spain -------------- 250 Yugoslavia --------- 942 Immigrants admitted. 195362 36.732 45.001 55.595 213.434 48.169 74.669 26. 036 13.641 37.033