Speech #900200246

Mr. Speaker. I have today introduced H.R. 15506. a bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act. During the 89th Congress. President Johnson signed into law the Immigration Act of 1965. This act repealed the discriminatory national origins quota system as a basis for selecting immigrants The Immigration Act of 1965 established a new policy governing those who seek admission to this country. The act provided an extension of the basic theme of U.S. policyequal opportunity. The legislation stands with legislation in other critical areas such as civil rights. poverty. education. and health. reaffirming this Nations continuing pursuit of justice. equality. and freedom. However. when President Johnson signed the law it was only the beginning of a very important task. Serious inequities still exist in our immigration system and further amendments are needed to attain the objectives initiated in 1965. The bill which I introduce today will effectively eliminate many of the remaining inequities in our immigration and nationalization policy and provide equal opportunity to all who desire to come to the United States. My bill accomplishes the following objectives: First. It refines the application of our belief in human dignity and equal opportunity under law by reestablishing a Board of Visa Appeals and a statute of limitations on deportation. Second. It strengthens our immigration objectives to reunite families. Third. It establishes a new humanitarian policy of asylum for refugees and victims of natural calamity. and Fourth. It provides necessary adjustments in our naturalization laws by establishing a Select Commission on Nationality and Naturalization to evaluate the fairness of our general policy in this extremely important. but long overlooked area of the public concern. I would like to elaborate on these objectives by referring to specific sections of the bill. Section 2 reestablishes a Board of Visa Appeals to review cases involving an immigrant visa to relatives of a U.S. citizen or of a permanent resident alien. There are numerous cases on record in which the denial of a visa by an American consul abroad raised justifiable criticism many of which cases were finally resolved by enactment of private immigration bills. To alleviate the necessity of introducing thousands of private bills each year. and eliminate the cost and expense involved. I believe that an independent Board of Visa Appeals. under law. will help assure a more equitable treatment of denial cases. Section 5 of the bill redefines the seventh preference. currently allotted to "refugees." In place of "refugees." the seventh preference visa will be made available to desirable groups of aliens. not requiring labor certification who currently are admitted on a nonpreference basis. The availability of rinpreference visas Is extremely limited. and all but precludes the admission of these aliens. Included in the new seventh preference are retired persons. private investors. fiancees of U.S. citizens. and members of religious denominations who seek admission to perform religious duties. Section 6 of the bill establishes a new humanitarian policy of asylum for refugees. In practice. our country has always been generous in providing resettlement opportunities to refugees. but our permanent immigration law has never included a comprehensive asylum policy. Our country which is so devoted to meeting the needs of all people throughout the world should at this time fully recognize the refugee resettlement needs throughout the world. My bill is intended to accomplish this objective. first. by providing for the issuance of 12.000 immigrant visas annually to qualified refugees throughout the world. and second. by authorizing the Attorney General to parole into the country alien refugees when he determines that such action is in the public interest. This merely confirms what we have done over the last decade in admitting those who have fled from Hungary and Cuba. Section 8 reestablishes a statute of limitations on deportation. It is an established principle of law that in the administration of justice. there must be a time limit. within which authorities must commence proceedings to punish for an alleged crime or violation of law. However. in matters involving the deportation of a lawfully admitted resident alien. this elementary principle of law does not apply. The alien may have resided in this country since childhood. or for 20 or 30 years or more. He may have been a product of our society. but he is denied its justice. and its equity under the law. The absence of a statute of limitations is a tragicshortcoming. a glaring injustice which has caused undue personal hardship and anxiety In the lives of many. Finally section 18 of the bill provides for the issuance of special immigrant visas to clean up the backlog of petitions accumulated under the discriminatory national origins quota system. This would apply only to the fifth preference for brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens. In Italy. for example. petitions dating as far back as March of 1955 are now being processed. To provide relief for qualified fifth preference visa applicants who still wish to join their family in this country. is just and humane. I believe that the removal of all the remaining vestiges of the national origins quota system will permit a more effective and efficient administration of our immigration laws as amended in Mr. Speaker. on January 28. I had the opportunity to address the NassauSuffolk Ancient Order of Hibernians. meeting on Long Island. I chose as the subject of my speech the "Immigration Law and Its Effect." particularly with regard to Ireland. Under the terms of the Immigration Act of 1965. it was the hope of the Congress to achieve a fair and equitable immigration policy. Unfortunately. the new law in attempting to cure discrimination. saddled persons of Irish birth with an inequitable and unfair application of U.S. immigration policy. While total immigration to the United States has increased temporarily the number of persons of Irish birth permitted to enter continues to decline not because they do not wish to come here but because they are barred from entry by inequities in the law. The statistics of Irish immigration into the United States in the last 4 fiscal years are as follows: Fiscal year 1964 ------------------- 6.307 Fiscal year 1965 -------------------5.463 Fiscal year 1966 ------------------- 3.241 Fiscal year 1967 ------------------- 2.624 The American Irish community is shocked by the drastic effects of the 1965 act on Irish immigration into the United States and will receive a further shock after June 1968. when the law goes into full effect. I join the American Irish community in expressing disappointment that a new form of discrimination has developed in the implementation of our U.S. immigration policy. How can we affirm our basic commitment toward equal opportunity to immigrate. when immigration from one country is increased by 200 percent in 1 year while immigration from another country is reduced by a similar percentage or is severely curtailed. Mr. Speaker. England. Ireland. and Germany enjoyed a privileged position in U.S. immigration prior to 1965. partially because of the number of immigrants contributed by them in earlier years. Now residents of all nations compete on an equal basis for U.S. immigration numbers. While we eliminated the discrimination caused by national origins quotas. we should also insure that admission to the United States from all nations be available to qualified persons on a fair and reasonable basis. The standards and terms for competition must be as fair for one nation as they are for another. It is now evident that when the Immigration Act of 1965 was passed. the House did not anticipate the effect that the new law would have on the formerly socalled "privileged countries." and in particular Ireland. Overlooked was the sociological pattern of immigration from these countries. Irelands sons and daughters have for decades contributed to the building and growth of this Nation in every conceivable area of endeavor. The quota which was assigned to Ireland under the old law was in small part a recognition of these contributions.