Finland. France. the Netherlands. and Switzerland. In the case of Ireland. the number of potential immigrants is especially affected because of the sociological nature of Irish immigration. The longfamiliar vision of an entire family arriving from Ireland is now largely a nostalgic one. Clearly. the great wave of Irish immigration to America lies many years behind us. My bill amends the 1965 act to protect all nations. It would permit immigration from Ireland and the other 12 nations without returning to the old national quotas system. At the same time. it would in no way affect the liberalizing provisions of the 1965 act which made it easier for such people as the Portuguese to enter the United States. The bill provides that any nation. whose immigration has dropped below 75 percent of its yearly average during the 10year base period. 1956 to 1965. will be allotted additional places in excess of the worldwide quota to bring its total up to 75 percent of the base period average annual immigration. In no case would it exceed 10.000. Nations which have gained under the provisions of the 1965 act will not be affected. Only those nations for which historic patterns of immigration have declined sharply will benefit. Ireland. for example. used to send an average of about 7.000 immigrants. Under my bill. its floor would be 75 percent of that number or about 5.300. In short. the bill preserves the fair parts of the 1965 act while doing away with the unfair parts. The added number of immigrants would be relatively small and the United States will be the richer for permitting the sensible immigration of additional persons from those countries which have already contributed so much to her greatness.
Keywords matched
immigration immigrants