QUOTA PREFERENCES FOR CERTAIN IMMIGRANTS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION, Monday, June 16, 1930. The committee this day met at 10.30 o'clock a. m., Hon. Albert Johnson (chairman) presiding. The CHAIRMAN. The committee will be in order. The subcommittee has prepared a tentative draft for all the text of the Metcalf bill, which draft, as finally approved, reads as follows: [TENTATIVE PRINT] [Matter in bold-face and italic inclosed in black brackets shows amendments by Mr. Copeland] [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] A BILL To amend the immigration act of 1924 in respect of quota preferences Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, [That paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of section 6 of the immigration act of 1924, as amended, is amended to read as follows: ["(1) Fifty per centum of the quota of each nationality for such year shall be made available in such year for the issuance of immigration visas to the following classes of immigrants, without priority of preference as between such classes: (A) Quota immigrants who are the fathers or the mothers, or the husbands by marriage occurring after May 31, 1928, of citizens of the United States who are twenty-one years of age or over; (B) in the case of any nationality the quota of which is three hundred or more, quota immigrants who, being trained and skilled in a particular art, craft, technique, business, or science, or in agriculture, are needed by bona fide employers to engage in executive, administrative, or supervisory work to perform which persons so trained and skilled can not be found unemployed in the United States, or who are needed to engage in such work independently or as an employer in the United States, and the wives, and the dependent children under the age of twenty-one years, of such immigrants if accompanying or following to join them. Preference under clause (B) of this paragraph shall not be given to any alien claiming to be so trained and skilled unless the Secretary of Labor, upon application of any person interested and after full hearing and investigation of the facts in the case, determines that a bona fide employer needs persons so trained and skilled in executive, administrative, or supervisory work and that such persons can not be found unemployed in the United States, or that it is desirable that such alien be admitted to work independently or as an employer in the United States, and such preference shall not be given to more than two such persons exclusive of their wives and dependent minor children in each instance. The Secretary of Labor shall inform the Secretary of State of such determination, and the Secretary of State shall then authorize the consular officer with whom the application for the immigration visa has been filed to grant the preference. Such determination by the Secretary of Labor shall constitute an exemption of the alien from the contract labor provisions of the immigration laws The provisions of this act shall not be construed to modify, in any manner, the provisions of existing law relating to the importation into the United States of alien contract laborers." [SEC. 2. Section 1 of this act shall take effect July 1, 1929, except that the determinations thereunder by the Secretary of Labor may be made at any time after the enactment of this act.] That the immigration act of 1924, as amended, is amended by adding a paragraph (f) of section 2 the words: "Provided, That prior to July 1, 1931, no immigration visas shall be issued except in cases arising under paragraph (a), (b), (d), (e), and (f) of section 4 thereof and to the preference classes enumerated in section 6 thereof, exclusive of skilled agriculturist class, unless it is shown to the consular officer to whom application for an immigration visa is made that the admission into the United States of any such applicant would not be detrimental to employment conditions in this country: Provided further, That the number of immigration visas that may be issued to immigrants of any nationality in the fiscal year ending June 30, 1931, exclusive of the nonquota and preference classes above referred to, but including the skilled agricultural classes, shall not exceed 10 per centum of the quota allotted to such nationality under section 11 of the act to which this is an amendment, but the minimum quota of any such nationality shall be one hundred. In the case of the nationalities enumerated in section 4 (c) of such act, the number of immigration visas issued in any fiscal year, except in cases arising under paragraphs (a), (b), (d), (e), and (f) of section 4 of the act to which this is an amendment, and under the preference provisions found in section 6 of such act, exclusive of the skilled agriculturist class, shall not exceed 10 per centum of the number of nonquota immigrants of like nationality who were admitted to the United States during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1929, as shown by Table 48 of the report of the Commissioner General of Immigration for that year, but the minimum allotment of any such nationality shall be five hundred." SEC. 2. This act shall not apply to immigration visas heretofore issued. Sec. 3. This act is in addition to and not in substitution for the other provisions of the immigration act of 1924, as amended, and other laws relating to immigration. Sec. 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 1930. STATEMENT OF HON. W. W. HUSBAND, SECOND ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Secretary, you have seen the draft of the committee concerning S. 1455, so far as it has gone. Can you now give us a statement as to what it will and will not do? Assistant Secretary HUSBAND. What I shall say will be applicable to the bill with the proposed changes added. The CHAIRMAN. Yes; we understand that. Assistant Secretary HUSBAND. You have asked me to comment on the proposed amendment to the Metcalf bill, S. 1455, as shown in the second tentative print of the Committee on Immigration and Naturalization. The proposed legislation would in nowise affect the present status of the temporary visitor classes, or of the following nonquota and preference classes enumerated in sections 4 and 6 of the immigration act of 1924, as amended: 1. The wives, husbands, unmarried minor children, and fathers and mothers, of United States citizens. 2. Returning residents. 3. Wives and unmarried children of lawfully resident aliens. 4. Professors, ministers, and students. 5. Women who have lost American citizenship through marriage but who are now unmarried. Immigration in addition to the foregoing, however, would be limited during the year beginning July 1, 1930, as follows: 1. In the case of immigrants of nationalities now subject to quota requirements the limit would be fixed at 10 percent of the quota of each such nationality. 2. In the case of countries of the Western Hemisphere, natives of which are not subject to quota requirements, the limit would be fixed at 10 per cent of the number of "nonquota" immigrants of each such nationality admitted to the United States in the fiscal year ended June 30, 1929. Permissible immigration of the two latter classes would be as follows: From quota countries.. From Western Hemisphere countries_ 15, 371 10, 374 The proposed legislation further provides that even the limited immigration permitted under the 10 per cent plan shall not be admitted unless it is shown in each case that the admission of the applicant would not be detrimental to employment conditions in the United States. Of course the total permissible immigration limit of 25,746 just referred to would be somewhat increased if the present minimum of 100 for each nationality is retained. Mr. Box. May I interrupt right here? Mr. Box. That last statement is made with the idea that we would have a hundred for a minimum? Assistant Secretary HUSBAND. Yes. Mr. Box. You will take care of that and see that it gets into the bill? Assistant Secretary HUSBAND. I will do so. Mr. JENKINS. May I ask you one question now? Mr. JENKINS. You have just said that the total immigration will be such and such. You mean the total quota immigration. The CHAIRMAN. That should be stated as "quota immigration." Assistant Secretary HUSBAND. No; it is not all "quota" immigration; because the proposed legislation refers to "nonquota" immigration from Western Hemisphere, as well as to "quota" immigration from overseas countries. Mr. BEAMAN. You would have to add the agriculture preferences, would you not? Assistant Secretary HUSBAND. I have inserted the word "additional" so that it would be "the total additional permissible immigration." Therefore, the total additional permissible immigration from all sources during the year would be limited to 25,745, unless a minimum of 100 for each nationality is preserved. A visa would be available to such immigrants only on a showing that their coming would not be detrimental to employment conditions in the United States. The chairman particularly desired to have figures showing the number of immigrants of quota and nonquota nationalities who might be admitted under the proposed legislation, as compared with like admissions under the quota immigration act of 1924, as amended. Also, he asked my opinion as to whether or not the provisions of Senator Metcalf's bill could be carried out under the proposed legislation, and finally, whether it would retard or facilitate the reunion of separated families. Senator Metcalf's bill provides that all persons who are "trained and skilled in a particular art, technique, business, or in agriculture" and who are needed to engage in "executive, administrative, or supervisory work" shall be accorded a preference in the issuance of quota immigration visas. It seems certain that immigrants of this class would be beneficial rather than detrimental to employment conditions, and, accordingly, they would be entitled to a share of the 10 per cent allotment provided in the amendment. While it is not possible to say definitely, yet I believe the two plans would be about equally helpful in bringing about the results sought for in the Metcalf bill. The fact that the proposed legislation makes no change in the nonquota and preference status of relatives would seem to be ample assurance that the reunion of separated families would not be retarded under it. The CHAIRMAN. You refer to the House committee's proposed substitute as amended? Assistant Secretary HUSBAND. Yes. The CHAIRMAN. And you say it would not retard the connecting up of families? Assistant Secretary HUSBAND. It would not. In fact I think it would help in reuniting families, but I did not go so far as to say that. However, I believe that other relatives than those enumerated in the nonquota and preferential classes would benefit at least to some extent from the open 10 per cent immigration allotment established under the proposed amendment. The CHAIRMAN. If we set out the new-seed type of immigrantsexcept those who will be experts, there will be more room for those coming to families? Assistant Secretary HUSBAND. Yes. The CHAIRMAN. Would that apply to the old father? Assistant Secretary HUSBAND. The father of a citizen now has a preference status and, therefore, is taken care of in the proposed legislation. The CHAIRMAN. How would it apply to the old father of the Canadian already here? Assistant Secretary HUSBAND. Under the proposed legislation, as amended, relatives of citizens of the United States, and lawfully resident aliens who are natives of Canada and other New World coun tries, would have either a nonquota or a preferential status and would be admissible. Mr. Box. That is clear and rather strong. If you had a man applying for a visa the question uppermost in your mind is whether or not his admission will be detrimental to labor conditions here. You probably could find a place for him under that provision even in a quota country that you could not find now. The CHAIRMAN. But a printer, say, in Montreal, would not get a visa in face of labor conditions here? Assistant Secretary HUSBAND. A printer in Canada, who is the father of a United States citizen, would be admitted even though his coming might be construed to be detrimental to labor conditions here. The CHAIRMAN. In other words, there would be a reason for every person coming? Assistant Secretary HUSBAND. Yes. The proposed amendment would not affect the status of the two following classes of aliens (the figures in each case represent the numbers of persons admitted under that status in the fiscal years ending June 30, 1929): QUOTA PREFERENCE FOR CERTAIN IMMIGRANTS Nonimmigrants (sec. 3, act of 1924): Nonimmigrant total___ Government officials, their families, attendants, servants, and Nonquota immigrants (subdivisions (a), (b), (d), (e), (f), section 4 act of 1924): Husbands of United States citizens.. Wives of United States citizens. Children of United States citizens.. Returning residents__ Ministers of religious denominations_ Wives of ministers. Children of ministers_ Professors of colleges, academies, seminaries, or universities.. Wives of professors... Children of professors Students__ - Women who had been citizens of the United States. Spanishs subjects admitted into Porto Rico___ The "quota" nationalities furnishing the largest numbers of nonquota immigrants, exclusive of returning residents, during the year ended June 30, 1929, are as follows: No other nationality furnished as many as 1,000 immigrants of this class during the year. The great majority of such nonquota immigrants were the wives and children of American citizens. The proposed amendment also provides that quota immigration visas may be issued to the following preferential classes, as provided in section 6 of the act of 1924: (a) Fathers and mothers of United States citizens; (b) husbands of United States citizens by marriage occurring after May 31, 1928; (c) wives and minor children of aliens lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence. The Bureau of Immigration has no record of the number of cases in which the above-mentioned preferences were granted by consuls, but it is suggested that this information may be available in the Department of State. The proposed legislation provides that no other immigration visas shall be issued during the year, unless it is shown in each case that the admission of the applicant would not be detrimental to employment conditions in the United States, and then only in the following numbers: (1) In the case of nationalities now subject to quota limitations, not to exceed 10 per cent of the quota allotment of any such nationality. (2) In the case of countries of the Western Hemisphere, enumerated in section 4 (c) of the act of 1924 (natives of which now have a nonquota status), not to exceed 10 per cent of the number of nonquota |