APPLICATION OF SELECTIVE PRINCIPLE NEEDED

I am convinced that our present system of immigration control is lacking in one highly important particular, for, as I have repeatedly pointed out, there is no authority under existing law for selecting our immigrants with a regard to their economic or occupational desirability. I can best explain my meaning by referring to the present situation in Europe, where upward of 2,000,000 persons are said to have taken some step toward securing immigration visas at the various consulates, while the annual quotas of the countries concerned are only about 150,000.

Under the present law the fathers and mothers of American citizens; husbands of citizens by marriage occurring after May 1, 1928 (husbands of citizens by prior marriage have nonquota status); the wives and minor children of aliens lawfully resident in the United States and persons skilled in agriculture are entitled to a preference in the issuance of visas, 50 per cent and in some instances an additional 25 per cent of the allotted quotas being available for this purpose. Otherwise the visas are necessarily issued on the principle of first come first served. I would not, of course, deny the preference privilege to applicants whose near relatives are waiting for them in the United States, but I have long been convinced that the remainder of the various quotas ought to be utilized when necessary to expedite the coming of immigrants for whose services along some particular line there is legitimate demand in the United States.

I would not increase the present quotas for this purpose, because I believe they are large enough already, but would simply give a preference to immigrants who are needed here after the demands of preference relatives have been satisfied. Cases are constantly arising in which some American industry, institution, or interest can very clearly demonstrate that it needs the service of some particularly qualified person resident in a foreign country. But there is no provision for expediting such immigration. A man whose services may be sorely needed as the key man in some new industrial development which, when under way, might afford employment to hundreds or perhaps thousands of Americans, simply has to wait his turn with other visa applicants and before that turn is reached possibly hundreds of immigrants, or even several thousands, with no family ties in the United States, may be permitted to come here to seek employment in some industry in which there is already a surplus of workers. Obviously this is wrong, and I have repeatedly recommended and shall continue to urge that Congress extend the principle of selection, strictly within the allotted quotas, so that persons whose services are actually needed in the United States, and whose coming might provide profitable employment for American workers, may be admitted in advance of those whose entry would bring no needed labor, but, on the other hand, might directly or indirectly increase the unemployment that constantly prevails in some of our great industries.

I recall an instance in which a European manufacturer was ready to buy an abandoned factory in a New England city and with his own capital establish an industry, the products of which are now imported. He wanted to bring his family here for permanent residence, and also two or three key men who were experts in the manufacturing processes involved and their families. Because of a long waiting list of applicants for quota visas in the country concerned this group faced a delay of upward of two years before visas would be available and under the law no relief was possible. We admitted from that country last year 228 miners, 3,422 clerks and accountants, 1,615 locksmiths, 198 textile workers, more than 1,000 followers of needle trades, and hundreds of other workers who came because of their own desire rather than because there was need for their services in this country. In another case a native of a European country was needed to superintend a large plant devoted to manufacturing a comparatively new article for which there is the kind of phenomenal demand that occurs only in the United States. The man wanted was a recognized expert, who was not subject to the contract labor law, but when he applied for a quota visa he could only take his place at the end of a waiting list of 100,000 earlier comers. We admitted 1,000 miners, 200 textile workers, and nearly 1,500 clerks and accountants from the same country last year.

In several instances it has been amply demonstrated that the services of a foreign scientist, chemist, engineer, or member of some other learned profession was actually needed in the development of some industry or in connection with some highly important undertaking involving research. In a few cases the need to bring in a limited number of highly skilled workmen has been shown,

but earlier applicants for quota visas, who were coming for no specific purpose, had to take precedence.

The solution I have in mind is very simple. It would provide that industries or other interests in the United States needing the professional services of some particular individual could allege to the Secretary of Labor that it was necessary to bring the needed talent from a foreign country. The Secretary, after full hearing and investigation, would authorize that a preference in the issuance of immigration visas be accorded to the particular person named. Other cases might arise in which there was an alleged need to bring in certain skilled artisans because like labor, unemployed, could not be found. In such cases possibly interested parties would be notified, open hearings granted, and full investigation made, all for the purpose of determining whether there is a bona fide and probably continuing need for such skilled labor which can not be supplied in this country, whether labor trouble of any nature exists in the industry concerned, and whether wages to be paid imported labor are up to the American standard. These facts having been favorably determined, the Secretary of Labor would authorize that preference visas be given to a specified number of applicants who possess the qualifications desired. With such authorization the various consuls could go over their record of applicants and if among them were found individuals possessing the needed qualifications they would be accorded a preference without reference to the particular place they happen to occupy in the long waiting list that may be on file.

Mr. SCHNEIDER. You spoke about admitting so many miners, textile workers, and clerks and accountants last year. If the quota was filled last year, then a provision to use the unfilled quota would not be a solution?

Mr. HUSBAND. It would not.

Mr. SCHNEIDER. To provide for use of the unfilled part of the quota would not provide any relief in case the quota is filled. That is very obvious.

Mr. HUSBAND. That is right.

Mr. FREE. Yes.

Mr. ESTERLY. What would be the required number of such men. Would there be a certain allocation made of these immigrants? What is the judgment of the department in that regard?

Mr. HUSBAND. The idea is that the demand should be met, whether by one or more than one individual. The preference would be applied as need was shown.

Mr. ESTERLY. You would not advocate bringing a whole industry over here in bulk, would you?

Mr. HUSBAND. Not unless there was need for it, which is a situation difficult to imagine.

Mr. ESTERLY. How many of these skilled technicians would you allocate to a manufacturer? What is your judgment?

Mr. HUSBAND. That, of course, would be difficult to say. Mr. ESTERLY. Would, say, 10 be a maximum, in your opinion? Mr. HUSBAND. I can hardly imagine a case where more than 10 would be needed in ordinary instances; so far as the scientific branches are concerned this need would be limited, usually, to one man and, perhaps, his immediate family.

Mr. ESTERLY. Referring to this fashion knitting trade, one importer in New York City has 42 of these men here on a six months' permit. Is not that a rather large number to allow in?

Mr. HUSBAND. I am somewhat familiar with that. Importers brought in one or more at a time on a showing that they needed them to set up machinery that had been purchased in Germany for use in this country and to train Americans to operate those machines.

Mr. ESTERLY. But they are not doing that?

Mr. HUSBAND. It has been charged that they are not.

Mr. ESTERLY. They continue to bring in men under that guise all the time, Ten, in your judgment, should be the maximum allowed to each importer or manufacturer in New York City who imports these machines, as I understand? Is that your view?

Mr. HUSBAND. No; you do not understand me. I do not mean to say what would be a proper limit in this connection. In some cases 1 would be all that should be allowed or would be necessary, and, again, there might be a case where 10 would be necessary.

Mr. ESTERLY. In the particular case to which I have just referred, is not 42 of these men, in your opinion, a rather large number? Mr. HUSBAND. We think it may be.

Mr. ESTERLY. How many such men, in your opinion, should those people be allowed under this exemption?

Mr. HUSBAND. I don't know. I would have to know the extent of the activities for which it was desired to bring men here before I could judge as to the number needed to carry on the activities.

Mr. ESTERLY. Would the fact that such a practice would injure established concerns in the United States be any reflection so far as the Department of Labor is concerned?

Mr. HUSBAND. That is coupled, I think, with the importation of machinery to compete with American machinery. I believe that is the case you have in mind.

Mr. ESTERLY. Yes; that is right.

Mr. HUSBAND. If the importers of the machinery would injure American industry, then certainly the importation of men to set up and operate that machinery would have a part in inflicting that injury.

Mr. ESTERLY. Could that be construed as dumping?

Mr. HUSBAND. It might be construed as dumping the machinery, but I think that under the long-established practice when an intricate machine purchased in some foreign country for use in the United States the buyer is entitled to have somebody come with it and be admitted here for the purpose of erecting it and starting it in operation. That has been the uniform practice.

Mr. FREE. As a matter of fact all our textile machinery originated in Europe, did it not, especially for the silk industry? Mr. HUSBAND. I can't say as to that.

I know that in one branch

of that industry, namely, lace making, the machines were brought from Europe. There have been several others. Silk hosiery appears to be the industry that is uppermost at the present time.

Mr. SCHNEIDER. Just how and under what law do you bring those men in at the present time?

Mr. HUSBAND. In either case, whether coming for permanent or temporary purposes, they are brought in under a waiver of the alien contract labor law, which provides that skilled labor may be imported if labor of like kind unemployed can not be had in this country.

Mr. SCHNEIDER. Do I understand you to say that men may come here under a waiver of the alien contract labor law either for permanent or temporary purposes?

Mr. HUSBAND. If the contract labor law is waived, it may be waived. as to a temporary or permanent entry, whichever the demand may be. Mr. SCHNEIDER. Can it be waived under the act of 1917 for skilled mechanics and workmen?

Mr. HUSBAND. Yes.

Mr. SCHNEIDER. What about the quota provisions of the immigration act of 1924?

Mr. HUSBAND. They must come within the quota if the admission is for permanent residence. A nonimmigrant may be admitted under the provisions of section 3 (2) of the act of 1924, which permits the temporary admission of aliens coming for business.

Mr. SCHNEIDER. But not to perform labor or work for wages? You refer to pleasure and business purposes, do you not? Do you construe the alien contract labor clause of the act of 1917 not to conflict with the immigration act of 1924?

Mr. HUSBAND. We have construed the admission of an individual in whose behalf the alien contract labor law was waived as eligible to admission temporarily for business under the immigration act of 1924.

Mr. FREE. Perhaps I can direct your attention, Mr. Schneider, to just what you desire. The immigration act of February 5, 1917, provides:

That skilled labor, if otherwise admissible, may be imported if labor of like kind unemployed can not be found in this country, and the question of the necessity of importing such skilled labor in any particular instance may be determined by the Secretary of Labor upon the application of any person interested, such application to be made before such importation, and such determination by the Secretary of Labor to be reached after a full hearing and an investigation into the facts of the case. * * *

Mr. SCHNEIDER. Are they coming in for permanent residence? I am asking the Secretary for an interpretation of what he read, to learn whether aliens may come in under the clause of the act of February 5, 1917, for permanent residence.

Mr. HUSBAND. They may come in permanently or temporarily. When the law of 1917 was enacted there was no limit to the number that might come here under such circumstances.

Mr. SCHNEIDER. But does not the fact that there is a quota provision in the immigration act of 1924 preclude them from coming here for permanent residence?

Mr. Box. If they come within the quota they can come under that provision.

Mr. HUSBAND. There is no waiver of the quota.

Mr. SCHNEIDER. Why have an alien contract labor clause in the act if aliens may come in that way?

Mr. Box. The alien contract labor law prohibits anybody coming to accept contract work, and this is an exception to that law. Otherwise every man coming here under contract would be barred under the act of 1917 and could not be admitted because of the said act. Mr. RUTHERFORD. What effort, if any, was made by the Department of Labor to determine whether or not men qualified to do the work in question could be found within the United States?

Mr. HUSBAND. If it is a case of skilled labor, an investigation is always conducted with a view to determining whether labor of like kind unemployed can be found within the United States.

Mr. RUTHERFORD. How is that investigation made? Does the representative of the department go to the man who makes application for that kind of labor?

Mr. HUSBAND. Sometimes we go to the man who makes the application for admitting this class of labor. We try to determine what effort has been made to get Americans for the work, what wages the employer pays, and get his explanation of why he is unable to get the skilled labor he desires in the United States. Then we attempt to determine whether such labor is in fact available here. We have applications from some employers that do not need any particular investigation, because we know without investigation that labor of the kind desired could be found if the employers would pay the wages ordinarily paid to such labor.

Mr. TAYLOR. It was my understanding that the testimony of Mr. Husband this morning was to be a showing as to the need for this particular legislation and to show the demands for this particular labor.

Mr. SCHNEIDER. We are trying to learn how the department is now admitting these people for which they claim there is a special demand because the supply is not available in the United Statesunder what law and whether there is a need for a change in that law to permit these foreigners to come here. Otherwise we would not have the bill before us.

Mr. TAYLOR. I would say that the demand has not been shown. I had thought Mr. Husband would give us that.

Mr. Box. What are you finding with respect to that, Mr. Husband? Mr. HUSBAND. The number is not large, as immigration goes, but there are legitimate needs; perfectly legitimate demands for the services of some men such as chemists and members of other professional classes, and, to some extent, for skilled artisans or laborers. The point is that if we need, actually need, one of that character, whatever it may be, he has to take his place at the end of a long waiting list of intending immigrants. He is not exempted from the quota law, and before his name is reached considerable numbers of people for whom there is no demand in this country have been admitted.

Mr. ESTERLY. Is that always the case? Are the experts always at the end of the list?

Mr. HUSBAND. Their relative place on the list is determined by the date of applications for visas.

Mr. ESTERLY. Would it appear that these manufacturers that want this foreign labor should go around a little in advance and not wait till the actual need arises? Would it not be good business to look ahead and plan on this thing?

Mr. HUSBAND. I suppose we could all look ahead and say that we will need a new shirt next year, for instance, but we do not do it. Mr. ESTERLY. That is not good business.

Mr. JENKINS. You say the number is not large. Perhaps you desire to make a more definite answer than that. Can you not give

us some kind of estimate in regard to this matter?

Mr. HUSBAND. I can not give you an estimate of the number of cases that might involve waiver of the alien contract labor law, Probably it would be limited to a few thousand annually.