Speech #890138273

Mr. President. that when there is a real need for the specialized or skilled services of aliens in this country. that need can be met reasonably well under existing law while at the same time the interests of our own labor market are protected. Concurrent with all the publicity for immigration reforms to facilitate the admission of skilled workers there is the demand for reforms to permit the reunifications of families. One might get the impression that the national origins quota system results in the separation of families. but this is far from the truth. The truth is that after 50 percent of each quota is made available to the first preference skilled group the remaining 50 percent is made available to close relatives of U.S. citizens and resident aliens. plus any numbers not used by the first preference. The relatives entitled to the preferences include parents of U.S. citizens. unmarried children of U.S. citizens. and spouses and children of resident aliens. The Immigration and Nationality Act goes even further and provides that if any numbers remain after the specific preference groups have been served. 50 percent of any such numbers shall be available to the brothers. sisters. and married children of U.S. citizens. This latter group is commonly referred to as the fourth preference under the quota. In view of the fact that much of the criticism of the McCarranWalter Act stems from the heavy oversubscription of this fourth preference class. I feel that a little clarification should be offered at this time. In the first place. this compassionate feature was added to the law for the first time in 1952 by the Immigration and Nationality Act. The attention of Congress was brought to certain isolated cases where elderly brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens were alone in the Old World and without any preference faced the bleak prospect of never seeing their relatives in the United States again. They were single and in many cases supported by the brother or sister. here.