Speech #890138271

Mr. President. there is another aspect of the bill which has not received much attention in the course of the hearings either in the House or in the Senate. Much has been said about the fact that the bill does away with the national origins quota system and places the opportunity to immigrate to the United States on a firstcome. firstserved basis but I ask whether that is really the truth. Immigration during the interim period when quotas are phased out and when the new provisions become effective 3 years hence in their entirety. will be based upon the registration date of immigrants on waiting lists at the consulates around the world. It is well known to those who are familiar with the immigration problem that the heaviest registration for many years has occurred in a limited number of countries where the pressures and encouragement to immigrate have been the greatest. In fact. in many of the lowquota countries. immigrants have been discouraged from registering on the waiting lists. The heavily oversubscribed countries will preempt the available visa numbers under the firstcome. firstserved basis for many years under the new proposal. In order to remove this discrimination in the treatment of aliens in different areas of the world. if that is what the proponents really want to do. it would be logical and consistent to provide for a reregistration of all intending immigrants on a given date. Then truly the immigrant visas would be made available on a firstcome. firstserved basis. But nowhere in the testimony received by the committee was such a proposal made by those who advocate the elimination of the national origins formula which provides fixed numerical quotas for every country determined by fixed mathematical formulas equally applicable to all areas of the world. Mr. President. now let us look at another provision of the proposed legislation which would modify the existing provisions of section 245 of the Immigration and Nationality Act which. in general. provide an administrative procedure for the adjustment of status of aliens who have entered or who have been paroled into the United States and desire to have their status adjusted to that of permanent residents. At the present time. this method of adjustment is not available to natives of contiguous territory and adjacent islands. Under the bill.