Speech #890151240

By the act of October 3 we shall no longer be concerned with a mans birthplace or ancestry but he will be judged on two factors only: His relationship to citizens or aliens already here and the skills and talents he may bring with him. the better to help us in forging our national society. No one should fear these changes. More importantly. no fears should be entertained that we are substantially increasing our immigration. relaxing our standards of admission. or prejudicing the jobs we hold. The bill authorizes a purely nominal increase in total immigration. It does not change any of the grounds of inadmissibility or deportability. The new law does not prohibit the entry of aliens who do not have the relationship or the skills which result in a preferential treatment. It does not permit such an immigrant to come here. but only after preference classes have been taken care of and only if the Secretary of Labor has determined that his admission to this country will not undermine the wages and working conditions of the employed American. No longer. however. will the immigrant without family ties or outstanding talent be able to migrate here immediately because he was born in northern or western Europe. while a U.S. citizen waits for years before his aged parents from southern or eastern Europe can obtain a quota number. No longer will the scientist from southern Asia be kept from joining the staff of an American university because only 100 persons may be allowed to enter this country annually from his native land. No longer will the refugee from communisms tyranny and oppression be stigmatized by being "paroled" into the United States. a term too closely associated with the status of the released criminal. For the first time in our immigration experience. a specific authorization for the orderly entry of 10.700 such refugees annually has been incorporated into our basic law. The new law is not a general revision of the patchwork quilt of sometimes obscure and sometimes contradictory legislation on immigration which occupies over 175 pages of our statute books. It is. however. a clearcut repudiation of the fallacious and demeaning philosophy which constituted the national origins quota system. In the best sense of the term it is a selfish law. While its provisions give greater hope to those outside our gates. in the elimination of this 20th century shibboleth the greatest beneficiaries of the law are the American people. I am proud to have been a sponsor of this legislation and to have been present at the historic ceremonies on Liberty Island when our President signed the immigration bill and reaffirmed our national policy. Youth Corps Report From the Quinault Indian Tribe of Washington