IMMIGRATION WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3, 1965 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met, pursuant to recess, at 10 a.m., in room S-126, U.S. Capitol Building, Senator Kennedy of Massachusetts (presiding). Present: Senators Kennedy and Ervin. Also present: Fred M. Mesmer, staff director; Drury H. Blair, staff member; and William A. Stevens, minority staff member. Senator KENNEDY. The subcommittee will come to order. We have with us this morning the Administrator of the Bureau of Security and Consular Affairs, Abba P. Schwartz, who will speak on the administration's proposals for amendment of the immigration laws, pending bill S. 500 and any others that the subcommittee wishes to take up with him. Would you be kind enough to introduce your associates for the record? STATEMENT OF ABBA P. SCHWARTZ, ADMINISTRATOR, BUREAU OF SECURITY AND CONSULAR AFFAIRS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE; ACCOMPANIED BY GEORGE L. WARREN, SPECIAL ADVISER, REFUGEE AND IMMIGRATION AFFAIRS; AND JAMES HINES, GENERAL COUNSEL, VISA OFFICE Mr. SCHWARTZ. On my right I have Mr. George L. Warren, Special Advisor on Refugee and Migration Affairs, Department of State, who is this Government's expert, and has been for more than 20 years, on refugee matters. On my left, I have Mr. James Hines who is the general counsel of the Visa Office of the Department of State. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate this opportunity to discuss the refugee aspects of the administration's immigration proposal, and to touch upon a few of the technical aspects of the bill which affect the administration of the law by the Department of State. If I may, I would like to briefly give a background of the refugee problem which the United States has faced and participated in. Since the end of World War II, there have been countless refugees who have been driven or have fled from their home countries as a result of political upheavals. Unfortunately, continued political instability in the world results in a steady flow of refugees from Communist and other countries and creates new refugee situations which the United States cannot ignore. U.S. policy interests require the U.S. Government to continue an appropriate amount of assistance to new and current groups of refugees. The United States is providing financial and material assistance to refugees overseas under the provisions of Public Law 87-510, the Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1963; by supplying Public Law 480 surplus commodities to refugees; and by continuing to accept refugees into this country as immigrants. PAST REFUGEE LEGISLATION The desperate situation of the large masses of refugees and displaced persons resulting from World War II made it imperative that the United States accept a substantial proportion of the refugees as immigrants. However, the normal immigration laws could not accommodate the great numbers of refugees who were seeking admission to this country. A Presidential directive and special refugee immigration laws were required to provide admission for the refugees to the United States. There is attached as an annex to this statement a list of various programs adopted since 1945 and the numbers admitted under each. PRESENT REFUGEE IMMIGRATION LEGISLATION At the present time, small numbers of refugees are being admitted to this country under the quota provisions of the regular immigration law. For example, practically all of the Czechoslovak refugees currently admitted to the United States enter under the Czechoslovak quota. Substantial numbers of Cuban refugees have entered the United States under the provisions which permit persons from the Western Hemisphere who are otherwise admissible to enter as legally admitted immigrants with nonquota visas. Still another provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (212(d) (5)) permits the Attorney General to parole aliens into the United States. At the present time, this authority is being exercised in favor of Cuban refugees who escape from Cuba and seek entry into the United States without having previously obtained nonquota visas and of approximately 15,000 Chinese refugees from Hong Kong who are being paroled by the Attorney General under the President's program initiated after the large influx of Chinese refugees into Hong Kong in 1962. This is a program which will terminate by the end of June 1965. Other legislation currently in effect under which refugees and escapees may enter the United States is the so-called fair share law of 1960 (Public Law 86-648). This law provided that the Attorney General might, prior to July 1, 1962, parole into the United States in any 6-month period up to one-fourth of the number of refugee-escapees who have been resettled in countries outside the United States in the previous 6-month period. The law was to serve as a U.S. contribution to the World Refugee Year and was directed toward the closing of the last refugee camps in Europe. Because refugees continued to flow into Europe after the passage of the act, the law was extended indefinitely in 1962 by section 6 of Public Law 87-510. These refugeeescapees must have fled because of persecution or fear of persecution on account of race, religion, or political opinion (a) from a Communist, Communist-dominated, or Communist-occupied area, or (b) from any country from the general area of the Middle East. They must apply for parole while physically present within the limits of a nonCommunist country of which they are not nationals and must also be within the mandate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Up to December 31, 1964, 16,322 refugee-escapees had been paroled into the United States under the provisions of Public Law 86-648, as amended. PROVISIONS OF THE PROPOSED LEGISLATION There are two principal provisions of the bill which affect refugees. Section 3 of the bill provides that the President may reserve annually not to exceed 10 percent of the quotal reserve (pool) numbers for allocation to persons oppressed or persecuted or threatened with oppression or persecution because of their race, color, religion, national origin, adherence to democratic beliefs, or their opposition to totalitarianism or dictatorship and to persons uprooted by natural calamity or military operations who are unable to return to their usual place of abode. This section provides that the Secretary of State, after consultation with the Attorney General, shall establish by regulation the requirements for qualification with reference to current world conditions. This provision would give the President the means to deal with refugee emergencies promptly. Most refugees are uprooted or flee from persecution suddenly with no opportunity to plan for movement to a new home through normal immigration procedures. In crises which create large numbers of refugees, the political interest of the United States may make it desirable that this country take a share of these new refugees. In such cases, prompt action is usually essential without having to wait the passage of special refugee legislation. This provision will give the President an opportunity to determine whether refugees should be admitted without awaiting their turn under the regular procedures and permit him to act promptly in admitting special groups of refugees when he considers that their admission will further the traditional U.S. policy in offering asylum and refuge. The definition of refugee provided in this provision adopts some language of earlier refugee legislation, particularly from the Refugee Relief Act of 1953 in that it provides for the admission of persons uprooted by natural calamity or military operations who are unable to return to their usual place of abode. Two other sections of the act amend the "fair share law" of 1960 (Public Law 86-648). Section 13 removes the requirement that the refugees eligible for parole into the United States under the act be within the mandate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and extends the definition of the "general area of the Middle East" to include Algeria and Morocco. Previously, the western 52-441-65-pt. 1- -12 boundary of the Middle East area for the purposes of the law was Libya. Section 14 eliminates a special provision of the "fair share law" for the parole of 500 "difficult to resettle" refugees. JUSTIFICATION FOR THE NEW LEGISLATION 1. "Fair share law" amendments The "fair share law" is providing satisfactory means for the United States to admit up to one-fourth of the current flow of escapees from the Communist countries and the Middle East. However, two proposed amendments to the law would achieve desirable improvements. The first amendment eliminates the requirement that refugees eligible for admission must be within the mandate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The removal of this limitation would free the United States to determine unilaterally which refugees may be admitted under the law without regard to determination by an authority external to U.S. controls. The second amendment to the "fair share law" extends the definition of the "general area of the Middle East" to include Algeria and Morocco. Thus, persons from any of the areas referred to who are now displaced in other countries and are unable to return to their country of former nationality would be potentially eligible to benefit from the provisions of the law. A minor amendment to the "fair share law" eliminates the provision for the parole of not to exceed 500 refugee-escapees identified by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees as difficult to resettle. This provision is considered no longer necessary since this class of refugee-escapee have been satisfactorily resettled. 2. Presidential authority to allocate reserve quota numbers to refugees The bill gives the President authority to reserve up to 10 percent of the numbers in the pool for the admission of refugees. This provision is designed essentially to permit the prompt entry into this country of special groups of refugees created by a political calamity, or military operation or natural disaster when such persons do not fall within the provisions of Public Law 86-648 ("fair share law"). Flexibility in the authority of the President to admit groups of refugees without delay is important to our foreign policy interests. The United States occupies a unique position in the world as a country to which the persecuted and oppressed, regardless of their race, creed or national origin, may turn for haven and the chance for a new life. We feel that provision for admission of refugees should be embodied in our basic immigration law to reflect our traditional and continuing concern for refugees. S. 500 provides a degree of Presidential discretion and authority in meeting special refugee situations without the delay occasioned by the passage of special legislation. There must, of course, be standards and limitations governing the admission of these refugees. Provision is made in the proposed legislation for the Secretary of State, after consultation with the Attorney General, to set up suitable regulations for this purpose. The presence of a statute in our laws which clearly defines the principles under which the United States admits refugees is effective from a foreign policy standpoint. It will also permit this country to act promptly in putting these principles into effect in relieving human need. |