The subcommittee met, pursuant to adjournment, in the committee room, 412 Senate Office Building, at 10 a. m., Senator Clyde L. Herring (chairman) presiding. Present: Senators Herring (chairman), Holman, and Stewart. Present also: Hon. Robert R. Reynolds, a Senator in Congress from the State of North Carolina; Mr. James L. Houghteling, Čommissioner of Immigration and Naturalization, Department of Labor; Mr. Edward J. Shaughnessy, Deputy Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization, Department of Labor; and Mr. A. M. Warren, Visa Division, Department of State. Senator HERRING. The committee will come to order, and we will proceed where we left off yesterday. STATEMENT OF JAMES L. WILMETH, JUNIOR ORDER OF UNITED AMERICAN MECHANICS-Resumed Senator HERRING. You were discussing the registration proposal, were you not, yesterday? Mr. WILMETH. Yes, sir; at the conclusion. I would like to make a reference or two, before I take that up again, if it please you, Mr. Chairman. Senator HERRING. Very well. Mr. WILMETH. We submitted yesterday that the 1917 and 1924 immigration laws are 22 and 15 years old, respectively, and that immigration and unemployment conditions today differ materially from the why we are favoring a change in the law to agree with the times and conditions as they are found today. And there are other reasons, such as unemployment, relief, old-age pensions, and competition with the American working people. And quoting the Commissioner from his 1938 report, at page 96, where he is discussing admissions and deportations, the concluding sentence of that paragraph wherein he outlines the number who came and the number who went, he says: "Furthermore, disturbed conditions in Europe justify the anticipation of greater numbers of immigrants and fewer emigrants in the immediate future." conditions of 1917 and 1924. That is one of the really from the I think that is a fair prophesy of what may be expected. Senator HERRING. 96. Mr. WILMETH. 96. Senator HOLMAN. I could not find that sentence. Mr. WILMETH. The last sentence in the first paragraph. Senator HOLMAN. In the middle of the paragraph; all right. Mr. WILMETH. The arguments that were advanced yesterday that the number of aliens is dwindling and the records show them growing less, will in all probability not hold good if this forecast or prophesy of the Commissioner proves to be correct. Senator REYNOLDS. Now, may I ask a question? Senator HERRING. Yes. Senator REYNOLDS. Mr. Wilmeth in view of the fact, as the Commissioner says, of the disturbed employment conditions in Europe, would not the natural way be for everybody in Europe to get out of there, if they could, and come over here, and would not the natural tendency be for them to come to our shores, instead of going from our country to their shores; and so there would be less people going from our shores? Mr. WILMETH. Certainly. Senator REYNOLDS. So wouldn't you state, Mr. Wilmeth, that the tendency now is for more aliens to be coming to our shores, and less aliens to be going from American shores to their native lands Mr. WILMETH. My argument is that the dwindling, if true, is probably nearing its completion. "Mr. HOUGHTELING. May I point out in that connection? Senator HERRING. Yes. Mr. HOUGHTELING. The entire quotas of what I call the pressure countries of central Europe, where there is strong pressure being exerted to force the emigration of certain groups in the population, only add up to an aggregate of 45,906 per year, whereas our naturalization figures have never in these tables gone as low as that. So I think we can count on the number of unnaturalized aliens continuing to fall. Senator HOLMAN. Continuing to what? Mr. WILMETH. Continuing to decrease. I don't think you can look for a time when the number of unnaturalized aliens will begin to increase year by year, under the present laws. Senator HERRING. Because of your quotas? Mr. HOUGHTELING. Because of the quotas and because of the fact there is a great demand for naturalization, numerically far exceeding the numbers who are coming in. Mr. WILMETH. Now that seems to be a reasonable conclusion; and yet, that the number of quota immigrants is increasing at present is borne out by the Commissioner's report; see page 99. That tabulation discloses that 42,494 were admitted in 1938; the largest number that has been admitted in any one year since 1931. Our argument is that even quota immigration is increasing. The reports show it; and that it is likely to increase. Senator HERRING. Within those limitations, though? Mr. WILMETH. Within those limitations. But we are arguing that the 153,000, we submit that the 153,000 quota is entirely too large. That is a quota that was established 15 years ago. There was perhaps some need then for the class of people in industry and in various lines of endeavor here in this country, which does not obtain today. For that reason, we are insisting that these quotas be cut, and cut immediately. We think a 90-percent cut would not be out of proportion, considering the economic and industrial and labor and unemployment conditions in this country today. Senator HERRING. You mean a cut of 90 percent; not cut to 90 percent? Mr. WILMETH. No, sir. Senator HERRING. A cut of 90 percent? Mr. WILMETHн. Yes, sir. Senator REYNOLDS. In other words, just leave out the percent. In other words, reduce from 154,000 to approximately 15,000? Mr. WILMETH. Yes, sir; and we submit that now is the time to do it. The country needs it; the American working people need that kind of support. We are interested, not in the quota being filled, but we are interested at the present time in keeping jobs here for our own American citizen, native-born and naturalized. We owe it as our first consideration to see that they are provided employment; otherwise, you have relief and you have trouble. I want to mention in that connection, last week in the city of Philadelphia and I know whereof I speak in this that under a recent enactment, I think it was probably in a deficiency bill but certainly in an appropriation bill, where aliens were cut off from W. P. A. work. There were 2,000 let out right there. Senator REYNOLDS. In Philadelphia? Mr. WILMETH. Right in the confines of the city of Philadelphia. And gentlemen, I want to say to you that it did not create any commotion, either. There was a feeling that it is a step in the right direction. There was a witness here yesterday who spoke about our great humanity and humaneness. We have been humane to our own detriment. The time has come now when we ought to look out for our own, and you know what the Good Book says about a man who doesn't look for his own, how it compares it, and with whom it compares him. It is up to the American people today to have protection in their work, in their employment, and in their taxes. Senator HERRING. Mr. Wilmeth, we want to give you all the time. you require, but we have got to cut it down, as we have got a good many other people to hear. Mr. WILMETH. Yes, sir; I will not take much of your time. Page 102 of the Commissioner's report refers to the forced departures, and mentions the eligibility of such departed alien who has gone of his own volition and paid his own way, to apply for readmission immediately. Subject, of course, to the approval of the Secretary of Labor. If the present immigration allows this, we submit that that law ought to be changed. If a man that has done something which is wrong, and alien here in this country, when he goes back to the land of his nativity or whence he came, if he can immediately reapply for admission and receive a visa, there is something wrong with the system. Senator HERRING. He doesn't always receive it, though he may apply for it. Mr. HOUGHTELING. Might I say Mr. WILMETH. When I finish this sentence-if that is done under the law, the law ought to be changed, and if it is done under violation of the law, it ought to be stopped. Mr. HOUGHTELING. I want to give you a typical example of the plight of an alien who is deportable under the present law, but whose deportation is purely for technical causes. I had a case awhile ago of an alien family who had not gotten the proper papers before they left their home in a foreign country and, to avoid the bother of going back and making the correction, they gave a false age for two of their children in order to represent that both of them were under 18 years of age and were therefore admissible under a preferred status. So to be consistent, a boy who was well under the age required for this preference was referred to as being younger than he was. And 10 years later he was ruled to be in this country illegally because of this false statement as to his age, which had been made by his father without his knowledge. Now, that boy was subject to deportation, and he was a man at that time and had married an American citizen and had American citizen children. He volunteered to leave this country. If we deported him, he could not have come back to this country for a year. If he left voluntarily, he simply had the right to present himself to an American consulate, and if he could prove the necessary qualifications of good moral character and that there was no likelihood of his becoming a public charge and the other qualifications necessary under the 1917 act, then he could apply for and get an immigration visa immediately. He had the qualification of knowing this country and having established himself in business, as against some other person who might have gotten his place on the quota and who did not have those qualifications. I am trying to explain what those forced departures without a warrant of deportation may mean in cases like that, and why they are sometimes resorted to. It is not a new practice. Back in the 1920's and the 1930's, both before and since the passage of the 1924 quota act, the forced departures without a warrant were as numerous as they are today. It is another way of getting rid of aliens who are in this country illegally. Senator HERRING. Yes. Mr. HOUGHTELING. Whether they come back or not, it is a question of whether they can qualify under the immigration laws. It has nothing to do with us or with the permission of the Secretary of Labor. Mr. WILMETH. Page 102 of the Commissioner's report states that 460 aliens for whom warrants were issued-that is, warrants of deportation, I take it-were not admitted because the native countries refused to receive them back. We submit that such countries refusing should be denied the privilege of any immigration whatsoever, and this should be done by legislation through Congress. Mr. HOUGHTELING. Mr. Chairman, again may I make an explanatory remark? Å considerable number of those whom we could not deport were individuals who can be described as "stateless." For instance, I think the largest individual group of that 460 were from the Soviet Union, which has adopted a law to the effect that any persons born in that country who left that country before the 7th day of November 1917, which is the date of the Bolshevik Revolution, have lost their citizenship. They had no citizenship in any country. The Soviet Union does not regard them as its citizens; and no other country has accepted them as citizens. And also the Soviet Union has adopted a law that any of its citizens who leave the country without the permission of the Government may be deprived of citizenship for so doing. It is a provision not in keep ing with our ideas of a free country, but nevertheless a number of Russians over here, who are subject to deportations, cannot be supplied with passports because the country of their birth does not recognize them as citizens. Now, the second largest group was from our neighbor, Canada, and was made up of Europeans who had been naturalized there and in becoming naturalized had foreswron their allegiance to the countries of their birth. Thereafter the countries of their birth would not recognize them or give them passports and, because they had been out of Canada for a number of years and had thereby forfeited their naturalization, the Canadians sent us back word: "They are not our people." Senator REYNOLDS. And so, Mr. Commissioner, the whole world is throwing their surplus on us, and refuses to take them back. I wonder in that connection, Mr. Chairman, would you be good enough to provide me with a list of the countries, together with the number that they refused to take back? Mr. HoUGHTELING. I have that in my office. Senator REYNOLDS. And will you send me a copy? Mr. HOUGHTELING. Yes. Aliens subject to warrants of deportation since July 1, 1930, whose deportation has been impossible because of inability to secure possports for them |