permanent residence in any fiscal year as the number of persons born in the United States who were admitted into any said country for permanent residence during the preceding fiscal year. (b) Section 6 of the Immigration Act of 1924, as amended, is further amended to read as follows: "SEC. 6. (a) Immigration visas as to quota immigrants shall be issued in each fiscal year as follows: "(1) One hundred per centum of the quota for each nationality for such year shall be made available in each year for the issuance of immigration visas to the following classes of immigrants: (A) Quota immigrants who are the fathers or the mothers or the husbands or wives by marriage occurring after January 1, 1933, of citizens of the United States who are twenty-one years of age or over; and (B) quota immigrants who are unmarried children under twenty-one years of age, or the wives or husbands, or the mother or the father, of alien residents of the United States who were lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence. "(2) Any portion of the quota of each nationality for such year not required for the issuance of immigration visas to the classes specified in paragraph Î, but not to exceed 20 per centum of such quota, shall be made available in such year for the issuance of immigration visas to other quota immigrants of such nationality. "(b) The preference provided in paragraphs 1 and 2 of subdivision (a) shall, in the case of quota immigrants of any nationality, be given in the calendar month in which the right of preference is established if the number of immigration visas which may be issued in any such month to quota immigrants of such nationality has not already been issued; otherwise in the next calendar month." SEC. 2. From and after July 1, 1937, no immigration visa shall be issued to any married applicant for entry into the United States unless, at the time of application, he or she applies for visas for all dependents admissible as nonquota immigrants, or entitled to preferences within the quotas under immigration Acts in force at the time of the passage of this Act: Provided, however, That he or she submits satisfactory evidence that transportation will be provided for the spouse and minor dependents to accompany the applicant, and that nothing in this section shall exclude a child born in transit after issuance of a visa to a parent. SEC. 3. (a) From and after July 1, 1937, no immigration visa shall be issued to any applicant who shall fail to pass an intelligence test equivalent to, or higher than, a normal rating of American white stock, or whose reputation or personal characteristics in the judgment of the consul would render the applicant not readily assimilable among the preponderant element of the population of the United States. (b) If any member of a family fails to meet the requirements of subsection (a) of this section, that fact shall exclude the whole family from admission to the United States. SEC. 4. The President may in his discretion direct the Secretary of State to deny a visa to any alien whose presence in the United States, as a visitor or for permanent residence, he deems inimical to the public interest, and it shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to bring to the attention of the President applications for entry by any person or persons, not otherwise excluded, whose activities or reputation fall within the purview of this section. SEC. 5. The ninth proviso of section 3 of the Immigration Act of February 5, 1917, be amended to read as follows: "Provided further, That the Commissioner of Immigration with the approval of the Secretary of Labor shall issue rules and prescribe conditions, including exaction of such bonds as may be necessary, to control and regulate the admission and return of otherwise inadmissible aliens applying for temporary admission solely for the purpose of receiving medical treatment not obtainable at an immigration station pending deportation." SEC. 6. If any alien has been arrested and deported in pursuance of law, he shall be excluded from admission to the United States whether such deportation took place before or after the enactment of this Act, and, if he enters or attempts to enter the United States after the enactment of this Act, he shall be guilty of a felony: Provided, That this Act shall not apply to any alien who has, prior to its enactment, obtained the lawful permission of the Secretary of Labor to reenter the United States and has reentered, or who arrives in the United States with such permission within sixty days after this Act becomes effective. For the purposes of this section, any alien ordered deported (whether before or after the enactment of this: Act), who has left the United States, shall be considered to have been deported in: pursuance of law, irrespective of the source from which the expenses of his transportation were defrayed or of the place to which deported. Section 7 of the Act entitled "An Act to further amend the naturalization laws, and for other purposes", approved May 25, 1932, is hereby repealed. SEC. 7. No immigration visa shall be issued to any alien seeking to enter the United States, other than persons bearing diplomatic passports, unless said alien has been finger-printed in triplicate: One copy of the fingerprint record to be utilized by the consul in ascertaining whether or not the person making application for entry is the person whose name is set forth in the application and whether or not the applicant has a criminal record or other statutory disqualification which would exclude him from entering the United States; the second copy of the fingerprint record to be attached to the alien's immigration visa to provide for verification of the immigrant's identity upon arrival at a port of entry of the United States; and the third copy of the fingerprint record, together with such other information as may be required, to be sent directly to the Division of Identification of the Department of Justice for filing in the alien section of its noncriminal records. SEC. 8. The Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization with the approval of the Secretary of Labor shall prescribe rules and regulations for the enforcement of this Act. SEC. 9. Any person who knowingly aids or assists any alien or any person to evade or violate any provision of this Act or connives or conspires with any alien or any person to evade or violate this Act shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and on conviction thereof shall, be punished by a fine or not more than $10,000 or by imprisonment for not more than five years, or both. SEC. 10. The provisions of this Act are in addition to and not in substitution for the provisions of the Immigration laws and shall be enforced as part of those laws, and all the penal and other provisions of such laws not inapplicable shall apply to and be enforced in connection with the provisions of this Act. Hon. ROBERT B. RUSSELL, Chairman, Committee on Immigration, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, United States Senate, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR SENATOR RUSSELL: I am enclosing herewith the Secretary's comments on S. 1366. This letter was signed by the Secretary of Labor and submitted to the Bureau of the Budget some time ago and instead of being forwarded directly to you by the Acting Director of the Budget it was returned to us today. Hence, I am forwarding it to you on behalf of the Secretary of Labor. Faithfully yours, GERARD D. REILLY, Hon. ROBERT B. RUSSELL, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, Chairman, Committee on Immigration, United States Senate, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR SENATOR RUSSELL: Reference is made to your letter of February 18, 1937, requesting the views of the Immigration and Naturalization Service on S. 1366, a bill to further reduce immigration, to authorize the exclusion of any alien whose entry into the United States is inimical to the public interest, to prohibit the separation of families through the entry of aliens leaving dependents abroad, and for other purposes. I am attaching hereto a memorandum prepared on the bill by the Immigration Service, as you requested. Very truly yours, FRANCES PERKINS. MEMORANDUM ON S. 1366, INTRODUCED BY SENATOR REYNOLDS, FEBRUARY 5, 1937, SEVENTY-FIFTH CongRESS, FIRST SESSION S. 1366, entitled "A bill to further reduce immigration, to authorize the exclusion of any alien whose entry into the United States is inimical to the public interest, to prohibit the separation of families through the entry of aliens leaving dependents abroad, and for other purposes", is primarily a bill relating to the admission and exclusion of aliens. Because of the distinctive features possessed by each of the various sections of the bill, it has been deemed preferable in this memorandum to consider and treat each section separately. For the reasons hereafter given in the consideration of the bill in its various clauses, the bill should not receive the approval of the Department. PROVISIONS OF SECTION 1 This section proposes (1) to reduce quotas to 10 percent of the quotas established by existing law but makes the minimum quota of any one nationality 100; (2) to remove from the nonquota classes under existing law aliens who are natives of the Dominion of Canada, Newfoundland, the Republic of Mexico, the Republic of Cuba, the Republic of Haiti, the Dominican Republic, the Canal Zone, or an independent country of Central or South America, and to impose a quota upon those countries of 10 percent of the number of immigrants who entered the United States from those countries in the fiscal year ending June 30, 1930, but makes the minimum quota for any one of those countries not less than 100; (3) to allow the Department of State to enter into reciprocal agreements with those countries whereby as many of their nationals may be admitted into the United States for permanent residence as the number of persons born in the United States were admitted into any of the said countries for permanent residence during the preceding fiscal year; (4) to grant preference to the extent of 100 percent of any quota to fathers, mothers, husbands or wives by marriage, occurring after January 1, 1933, of citizens of the United States over 21 years of age, and to the unmarried children under 21, wives or husbands, mothers or fathers, of aliens legally admitted to the United States for permanent residence; and (5) to further reduce the quota of immigrants of the nonpreference classes to 20 percent of the reduced quota for for any nationality. COMMENT ON SECTION 1 (1) The United States for many years past has been an immigrant-receiving country. A large number of aliens have been admitted to the United States who probably because of economic reasons were unable to bring with them other members of their immediate families-wife, husband, children, and parents. Many hoped that economic conditions soon would permit them to have those members of their families follow them to this country. A large number, of course, saw their hopes fulfilled. Many more, however, either because of the world depression or because of difficulties in procuring travel documents for their relatives, have thus far been unable to have their families join them. A further restriction in the quota would, in many instances, make impossible the union of such families in the immediate future, although the aliens who have come to the United States to settle with the consent of this Government-and it might be said in view of the immigration policy of the United States for yearsat its implied invitation, have always been of the belief that the admission of their families at some later time when they were able to send for them would not be denied. But the bill, by its tremendous reduction in quotas, would delay the union of some families for years and probably make such union in this country impossible in some instances. Italy, for example, under the bill would have a quota of 580 aliens who might migrate to the United States yearly. However, in the 5-year period ending June 30, 1936, a total of 7,209 or a yearly average of 1,442 husbands, wives, children, and parents in the present preference classes were granted visas from that country. If the future may be judged by the past, and undoubtedly the improved economic conditions in this country will not materially reduce the number of Italians desiring to bring their families to this country, the same number of husbands, wives, children, and parents seeking to enter after the passage of the bill would require a period of over 13 years in order to enter within the quota. The nationals of Poland, Hungary, Portugal, Rumania, Spain, Turkey, and Yugoslavia are in the same situation, although admittedly not in so aggravated a form. It is not believed that the Department should support a measure which would work such a cruel hardship upon aliens who legally entered the country, who were accepted as residents, who have established a domicile here, and who have always been led to believe from all recent legislation passed on the subject, that their families would be permitted to join them when they were able to send for their families. Secondly, it is thought that the administration of the immigration laws under existing law has done much to reach what appears to be the objective of the bill the restriction of new seed immigrants-without the hardship upon legal residents of the United States which will attend the passage of this bill. In the This 5 years ending June 30, 1936, a total of approximately 42,608_nonpreference quota visas were issued out of a total quota allotment of over 768,984. means that about 8,522 nonpreference quota immigration visas were issued yearly, a number which, when compared with the total population of the country, becomes relatively small and insignificant and obviously not a menace either to American labor conditions or traditions. (2) It has been the policy of the Government of the United States to foster friendly relations with the countries in the Western Hemisphere. No more certain way of creating ill-feeling toward the United States by the people of those countries can be engendered than by placing their populations within the quota restrictions. For that reason alone the proposal to abandon the definite policy established in 1924 by placing those countries under a quota should not receive the approval of this Department, especially at a time when the Secretary of State is so active in promoting the good-neighbor policy in the Western Hemissphere. Moreover, immigration from countries in the Western Hemisphere has not reached the proportions where any proposal to limit entry of their people should be passed without great care. In the 5-year period ending June 30, 1936, a yearly average of about 7,965 persons, of which about 5,205 were Canadians, were given section 4 (c) visas. If the bill is enacted it will mean that about 4,300 Canadians can enter the United States yearly in the future. The decrease in immigration from Canada of only about 1,000 will not compensate for the loss of friendship of the Canadian people. In the same 5-year period an average of 1,351 section 4 (c) visas were issued to Mexicans. Under the bill Mexico would have a quota of 1,178. The decrease in this instance is not impressive. (3) The proposal to give to the Department of State the authority to enter into reciprocal agreements with present nonquota countries to permit as many of their nationals to enter the United States as natives of the United States are permitted to enter their countries will not cure the evil which, it is believed, the bill carries. While accurate figures on the emigration of United States citizens to nonquota countries is lacking, there probably is no question that the number of nonquota country entrants exceed native citizens of the United States departing to other countries, and there will be a reduction in the number of immigrants from present nonquota countries. (4) The provision whereby 100 percent of the quota may be used for the preference classes is undoubtedly a recognition of the fact that aliens who are residents of the United States should be permitted to bring their immediate family ties to this country. As above indicated, however, it falls far short of a correction of a serious fault of the bill. It might also be observed that this provision will effectively prevent any new-seed immigrant from coming to the United States from a number of the foreign countries. Notwithstanding an alien's learning, his achievements in the arts or sciences, his desirability to American industry and culture, if he is an immigrant of a country whose preference classes exhaust the quotas he may not enter the United States. Any law which proposes such an extreme restrictive policy should provide for some flexibility in its administration. This bill does not do so. Section 1 has a number of technical defects. Present law makes wives of citizens, and the husbands of citizens by marriage occurring prior to July 1, 1932, nonquota immigrants. The nonquota relative provisions of the act of 1924 are not altered and, therefore, the preference classes proposed in the bill should be corrected to exclude the wives of citizens and to include the husbands of citizens by marriage occurring subsequent to July 1, 1932. Otherwise, the husbands of citizens by marriage occurring between July 1, 1932, and January 1, 1933, would be without preference, a proposal which it is not believed was intended. PROVISIONS OF SECTION 2 This section prohibits the issuance of an immigration visa from and after July 1, 1937, to any married applicant unless the applicant also applies for visas for all dependents admissible as nonquota immigrants or entitled to preference within the quotas or unless the applicant submits satisfactory evidence that transportation will be provided for the spouse and minor dependents to accompany the applicant to the United States. COMMENT ON SECTION 2 While this section is evidently intended to make a family migrate to the United States as a unit, it fails of its purpose. The new seed immigrant would not be affected by the section because obviously his wife and children could not be of the nonquota class or preference immigrants and the section expressly applies only to "dependents admissible as nonquota immigrants or entitled to preference within the quotas.' Again, it is to be noted that the bar placed by the statute is to the issuance of a visa. After the visa is issued the head of the family can still proceed to the United States and leave his family abroad. While the intent of this section might have been of value in the years when unrestricted immigration was permitted and a great number of aliens came to the United States leaving their families abroad, it is not believed that today it would serve any useful purpose. PROVISIONS OF SECTION 3 This section requires that after July 1, 1937, no immigration visa shall be issued to any applicant who shall fail to pass an intelligence test equivalent to or higher than a normal rating of an average sampling of American-born white stock or whose reputation or personal characteristics, in the judgment of the consul, would render the applicant not readily assimilable among the preponderant element of the population of the United States. It further requires that a visa be denied to all members of a family if one member thereof fails to meet the requirements of the section. COMMENT ON SECTION 3 Aside from the fact that the standards set up to judge the admissibility of aliens under this section are at best vague, it is quite evident that, when consideration is given to the number of American consuls which will have to pass upon those standards, uniformity of action in administering the law will be impossible. Undoubtedly, the purpose of the section was to keep out of the United States persons mentally and morally subnormal but it is questionable whether the proposal will be more effective than the present provisions of the Immigration Act of February 5, 1917. Persons suffering from any mental defect, or who are morally delinquent, as determined by the fixed standards set forth in the act of 1917, are now excluded from admission to the United States. If some aliens of these types have entered it is not because of lack of aws to keep them out but because of the human fault to err possessed by the administrators of the immigration laws as well as others and also because maladies and infirmities are not always manifest at a given time when an examination of an individual occurs. It is for this very reason that there are clauses in the deportation laws which require the removal of aliens who have entered who are found to have been at the time of entry inadmissible aliens. PROVISIONS OF SECTION 4 This authorizes the President to direct the Secretary of State to deny a visa to any alien whose presence in the United States, either as a visitor or as a permanent resident, he deems inimical to the public interest and that it shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to bring to the attention of the President applications for entry (applications for visas) by any person or persons not otherwise excluded whose activities or reputation fall within the purview of the section. COMMENT ON SECTION 4 Because of its vagueness as to the group of aliens sought to be denied visas, it would be difficult for the Secretary of State to determine which classes should be brought to the attention of the President. If the Congress intends to exclude additional classes from admission to the United States, those classes should be set forth in the law with definiteness. PROVISIONS OF SECTION 5 This section amends the ninth proviso to section 3 of the act of February 5, 1917, so as to make the proviso applicable only to aliens seeking temporary admission for the purpose of receiving medical treatment not obtainable at an immigration station pending deportation. COMMENT ON SECTION 5 The meaning of this section is not clear. If an alien is seeking temporary admission for medical treatment, it would seem to be a matter of no relevancy whether any medical treatment can or cannot be given at an immigration station. 147479-37- -2 |