Speech #890120757

Fortyone years of legalized prejudice have blackened the eye of the United States in our foreign policy endeavors long enough. It is time to erase the mark. Loudest of all arguments against the enactment of this bill is one which claims that the new bill will "open the floodgates" for immigration into the United States. This simply is not true. The annual quota increase will be 2.000 persons. In a nation nearing the 200 million mark. this hardly amounts to opening the floodgates. An attempt may be made to amend this bill to set a numerical ceiling on nonquota immigration from the Western Hemisphere. The hue and cry is that the nonquota status to which nationals of independent Western Hemisphere nations are entitled under the bill will bring thousands of new immigrants into the United States. Proponents of this amendment overlook the fact that this nonquota status has been enjoyed for years by these nations. and there has been no overwhelming race for the Golden Gate. To be sure. there has been an increase in their number. but the need for a numerical ceiling has not been established to the satisfaction of the Justice Department. the State Department. the Committee on the Judiciary. and others most knowledgeable in the field of immigration. H.R. 2580 does provide for the President to notify the Congress when Western Hemisphere immigration reaches a 10percent increase over the average for the last 5 years. This should be sufficient legislation. We should not take action which will impair Western Hemisphere solidarity and have other adverse foreign policy implications. Conditions and a numerical quantity for the admission of refugees have been established in this bill in place of the Fair Share Refugee Act. While this does not take care of certain pressing problems regarding refugees already in the United States. it will help regulate and codify future procedure. The new bill eliminates minimum quotas which have worked hardship on people from new Western Hemisphere nations. In addition. certain mental and physical conditions warranting excludability under the old law have been clarified and made to conform with recent advances in medical science. Mr. Chairman. this bill is not an omnibus revision of immigration regulations. It is addressed to the specific problem of the eradication of prejudice and discrimination and the establishment of a sane and humane policy. It corrects certain glaring inconsistencies and makes technical corrections as required by the advance of medical science. There is much more to be done in this area. but this bill will provide a foundation upon which to build policy in line with our convictions. Few Americans are the product of indigenous peoples. It is an affront to the heritage of the United States for any prospective immigrant to be discriminated against by a racially and ethnically oriented policy. As of the 1960 census. there were nearly 2 million foreign born persons in New York City. This is a quarter of the citys population. The dynamism and greatness of New York City springs from the free interchange of ideas between persons of diverse backgrounds.