Speech #890290549

Mr. President. the nationalities that formerly were allotted minuscule quotas have greatly increased their immigration to the United States. The great majority of these immigrants have rejoined close relatives here. The table above will show that this is especially true for Italy. where the number of immigrant visas is four times last years figure. and for Greece. where 20 times as many visas were issued this year. However. in those countries where no backlog of relatives is waiting for visas. the table shows a marked reduction in the number of immigrants coming to this country. This is the case for virtually all of the countries in northern Europe. The reason for this reduction is that very few of the people who now want to emigrate from these countries have relatives here to petition for them. Most of them are in the third. sixth or nonpreference categories which. of course. makes them subject to the labor clearance stipulation of section 212(a) (14). British and West German immigration was cut by almost onehalf of last years total. This most clearly illustrates the effect of the labor certification requirement. Difficulties of a special nature have arisen in the few Communist nations of Eastern Europe which have allowed limited immigration to the United States in recent years. Mr. Henry Kamm. in a New York Times article. described the plight of Polish immigrants who have been restricted by the labor clearance provision. Mr. Kamm writes: The new law. which eliminates national quotas. puts the emphasis instead on what the prospective immigrant can contribute in working skills. This would not reduce emigration from a country that allows all citizens to leave freely. It does so in Poland. which is not inclined to allow the emigration of the doctors. scientists and engineers whom it has trained at national expense. I ask unanimous consent that the full text of Mr. Kamms revealing article be printed in the RECORD.