RECOMMENDATION

The Commission is not able to make a final, definitive recommendation with respect to the imposition of an annual ceiling of 120,000 on Western Hemisphere immigration. While the Commission majority favors some type of immigration limitation in the New World as in the Old, implementation of the labor certification provisions of our new legislation is as yet insufficiently advanced to permit a meaningful judgment on the role of this device in the general limitation of immigration. With this situation in mind, the Commission recommends that the effective date for the imposition of the 120,000 ceiling on Western Hemisphere immigration be extended from July 1, 1968 to July 1, 1969.

Initial experience under the immigration law approved in October 1965 indicates that the new administrative control on immigration, notably labor certification, has resulted in a sharp decline in Western Hemisphere immigration. In the calendar year 1965, the year just prior to the effective date of labor certification, a total of 174,237 immigrants were admitted from the Western Hemisphere. In calendar year 1966, the first in which labor certification was in effect, only 121,877 immigrants were admitted from the Western Hemisphere. Further, it should be noted that a number of visas in both years were issued to "immediate relatives" of U.S. citizens, persons who would not be charged against an immigration ceiling even had one been in effect.

Basically, the labor certification requirement is that those coming as immigrants to seek employment in the United States may be admitted only if the Secretary of Labor certifies that there are insufficient workers at the place in the United States to which the alien is destined "able, willing, qualified, and available" to fill the position in question. Additionally, it must be certified that the employment of an alien for the job involved will not "adversely affect the wages and working conditions of U.S. workers similarly employed." There are some statutory and administrative exemptions from this requirement for labor certification of immigrants, (e.g., Cuban or other parolees, persons not seeking employment, spouses and children), but it is the labor certification provision of the 1965 law which has been a major new factor in Western Hemisphere immigration.

Labor certification is tied to our national economy and to the condition of the domestic labor market, and as such provides a much more flexible tool for Western Hemisphere immigration control than does a system of fixed quota numbers. The effect is not as great in the Eastern Hemisphere where under existing law the labor certification requirement is applicable principally to the third and sixth preferences,

each of which is allocated up to 17,000 numbers annually, including the numbers granted to the spouses and children of those preference immigrants.

In the administration of the certification program there are presently three "schedules" of certification under Labor Department regulations, and these can be adjusted as labor demand and need fluctuates. The three now in use are as follows:

Schedule A-the certification list.-Consists of professional occupations and fields of specialty in short supply nationally which are certified in advance; for example, physicians, engineers, mathematicians, chemists, and physicists. No job offer or individual review by the Labor Department is required.

Schedule B-the noncertification list.-Consists of low-skill occupations and occupational groups requiring minimum training periods and with a supply of U.S. workers for which the Labor Department could not now, if requested, issue a certification. Examples are busboys, hotel clerks, cook's helpers, farm laborers, grocery checkers, kitchen workers, and janitors.

Schedule C.-Consists of a variety of occupations, including professional occupations not on schedule A, semiprofessional, and skilled, which are generally in short supply in certain areas of the country; for example, arc welders, chefs, office machine servicemen, draftsmen, machinists, psychiatric aides, and stenographers. No specific job offer is required but the Labor Department reviews each prospective immigrant case to determine availability of workers in the occupation and area of intended employment.

Individual Case Review.-Aliens not qualified for an occupation on schedule A or C must obtain a job offer from a U.S. employer who provides information in order that the U.S. Employment Service can insure that the job cannot be filled from the domestic labor market and will not adversely affect wages and working conditions.

These schedules and the administration of labor certification generally are kept under constant review to insure that the purposes of the 1965 act are being maintained. At this time, for example, the Labor Department is considering the matter of immigrant live-in domestic servants. There is some evidence labor certifications in this category are being used by women who are not, in fact, experienced domestics and many of whom remain in such service only for a brief period. The Department's authority is such that labor certification may be compared to a spigot, and the Department has the authority to adjust the spigot as required. Since many labor certifications involve not only the immigrant certified but also families as well, it is clear that the control of labor certification is a basic-and new-fact in the control of Western Hemisphere immigration.

But labor certification has not been in effect for any great length of time. We have only just finished the second year of its operation, and much of the first year was involved in establishing and putting into effective working order the many administrative regulations and orders needed to bring the system into operation. The Commission feels additional experience is required before a firm and meaningful judgment may be made as to the efficacy of labor certification as an immigration control mechanism. Since the number of immigrants who might come into this country from July 1, 1968 to July 1, 1969, would not in any event substantially exceed the 120,000 ceiling pro

posed for July 1, 1968, the Commission recommends the effective date of that ceiling be extended 1 year to permit additional evidence on labor certification to become available.

This recommendation additionally commends itself to the Commission in view of the special relationship so long extant between the United States and our sister Republics of the Western Hemisphere. As is the case with any politically sovereign nation, the United States has the option to select, reject, encourage, or restrict the entry of aliens into its national territories. Article 1, section 8, clause 3 of the Constitution grants to the Congress authority to determine American immigration policy, under the power to "regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several States and with the Indian tribes."

The U.S. immigration policy for this hemisphere, however, cannot be considered only in domestic terms. America's size, wealth and influence, the opportunities it provides those who reside within its borders, its position as a leader among equals in the Western Hemisphere and geographic considerations all cause U.S. immigration laws to assume a significant dimension both in relations with sister Western Hemisphere States and in the hearts and minds of a multitude of their citizens.

The Commission studies indicate that U.S. immigration laws are, and are generally recognized to be, among the most generous in the Western Hemisphere. With few exceptions they have not been a significant area of hemispheric friction. Possibly because of this, or perhaps because the 120,000 ceiling on Western Hemisphere immigration did not become immediately effective, passage of the 1965 Act caused little adverse hemispheric reaction. There have been no official representations and most of our Western Hemisphere embassies detect no overriding concern on the proposed ceiling among major economic, political, and trade union groupings.

The Commission suspects, however, there may be considerable concern by the potential immigrant about personal effects of the immigration law once a ceiling goes into effect. In this respect, our embassies have reported that, in time, a numerical ceiling could lead to waiting lists and visa issuance delays similar to those in parts of the Eastern Hemisphere and have indicated that some general ill will could result.

While the Commission does not believe that the special conditions which have existed for so many years in the New World ought necessarily to be continued simply because of geography, it does feel that these conditions should cause Americans to consider most carefully the limitations and inhibitions they place upon freedom of movement within the Western Hemisphere. If it should develop that the process of labor certification does in fact provide that measure of immigration control the Congress may deem needful, it seems clear this sort of device would be preferable to the use of ceilings, quotas, and the like. With this in mind, the Commission finds additional reason for its recommendation that the imposition of the numerical ceiling be delayed for 12 months' time to permit further study of the workings of labor certification.

RECOMMENDATION

In the event a ceiling of 120,000 on Western Hemisphere immigration does become effective July 1, 1968, the Commission recommends that no national origins quotas be adopted; that an annual maximum limitation of no more than 40,000 per country be instituted, and that Cuban refugees on parole in this country not be counted as a part of the ceilings at such time as they adjust their status from parolee to immigrant.

While the Commission has recommended a 12-month extension of the coming into force of the ceiling of 120,000 on annual Western Hemisphere immigration, it fully recognizes the difficulties facing any change in the present law. Since the 1965 Act provides that this limitation comes into effect automatically on July 1, 1968, unless otherwise provided by the Congress, the Commission has prepared recommendations conditional upon no extension of that date being voted prior to July 1, 1968. The first of these recommendations recognizes the intent of the 1965 Act in abolishing national origins quotas as a basis for immigration law. The Commission agrees with this purpose of the 1965 Act. To introduce such quotas into the Western Hemisphere would be a retrogressive step and the Commission recommends against any such undertaking.

Second, it is recognized that a total absence of control within the proposed 120,000 ceiling could lead to an unhealthy dominance of Western Hemisphere immigration by one or two countries, and it is recommended that an annual national limitation of 40,000 (one-third of the total area ceiling) be adopted. While the limit for nonWestern Hemisphere countries is but 20,000, the Commission believes that recognition must be given, and allowance made, for differences inherent in the relationship of the United States with its sister hemispheric republics. In this respect, the Commission concludes that the annual 20,000 limitation per country now in effect in the Eastern Hemisphere would be unnecessarily disruptive to the traditional patterns of Western Hemisphere immigration.

The 24 nations of the Western Hemisphere have economic, social, and traditional ties with the United States which collectively cannot be matched by the disparate 112 nations of the Eastern Hemisphere.

Further, geographic considerations strongly affect the pattern of Western Hemisphere immigration to the United States. Mexico and Canada, the two States with which the United States has contiguous borders, have each supplied approximately one-third of the hemisphere's annual immigration to the United States. During the decade 1957-66, Western Hemisphere immigration to the United States averaged

125,000 per year. Immigrants from Canada averaged 32,000 and immigrants from Mexico averaged 39,000.

If the Eastern Hemisphere maximum annual limitation of 20,000 immigrants were duplicated in the Western Hemisphere, there would be an immediate and drastic curtailment of immigration from these two traditional sources. Backlogs of Canadian and Mexican applications would develop, as they have in certain Eastern Hemisphere States. However, in the latter case this situation must be considered in relation to the desirable goal of equitably distributing a number of immigrant visas which is limited in terms of the overall Eastern Hemisphere situation. This circumstance does not currently exist in the Western Hemisphere once Canadian and Mexican immigration are excluded since in the decade 1957-66 total annual Western Hemisphere immigration, less Canada and Mexico, averaged approximately 54,000.

The Commission recognizes that a fixed numerical limitation is desirable to prevent any one State from potentially dominating Western Hemisphere immigration. However, it believes that an annual limitation of 40,000 would recognize the traditional hemispheric pattern of immigration.

Thirdly, the Commission recommends that natives or citizens of Cuba and their spouses and children inspected and admitted as nonimmigrants or paroled into the United States who may subsequently adjust their status to that of immigrants under Section 1 of the Act of November 2, 1966, be exempt from any numerical ceiling.

Following Fidel Castro's seizure of power on January 1, 1959, there began an immediate exodus of freedom-loving Cubans to the United States. In 1959-60, in addition to those using commercial transport, many Cubans, unwilling or unable to obtain visas at Embassy Havana, fled via small boats. These refugees could not be admitted under the regular provisions of the law, nor could humanitarianism allow their exclusion and deportation. Therefore, they were paroled into the United States under the Immigration and Nationality Act.

On September 28, 1965, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro announced Cubans with relatives in the United States would be permitted to depart, a policy enlarged on October 1 to include many other Cubans. On October 3, 1965, President Johnson announced that he had directed the appropriate agencies to provide for the orderly entry of those Cubans seeking asylum. After negotiations, a regularly scheduled airlift began on December 1, 1965. Subsequently, the Act of November 2, 1966, authorized those natives or citizens of Cuba inspected and admitted or paroled into the United States and their spouses and children to adjust their status to that of immigrant following 2 years of residence in this country.

The Commission heartily endorses the principle of asylum from political oppression as exemplified in the Cuban refugee airlift. It also commends the work of both the public and private organizations in rapidly relocating the refugees out of the Miami area and assisting them in locating permanent employment and housing. This is a monument to the American spirit of assistance for those who have suffered at the hands of tyrants.

However, it must be borne in mind that the rate at which Cubans are eligible for adjustment is far in excess of normal immigration from that area and is due solely