IMMIGRATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1931 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, The committee met at 10.30 o'clock a. m., Hon. Bertrand H. Snell, (chairman) presiding. The CHAIRMAN. The committee will be in order. We will take up at this time for consideration House Resolution 346 introduced by Mr. Johnson of the State of Washington, a resolution to the following effect: Resolved, That upon the adoption of this resolution it shall be in order to move that the House resolve itself into the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union for the consideration of House Joint Resolution 473, a resolution to suspend for two years general immigration into the United States, and for other purposes. [H. Res. 346, Seventy-first Congress, third session] Resolution Resolved, That upon the adoption of this resolution it shall be in order to move that the House resolve itself into the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union for the consideration of H. J. Res. 473, a resolution to suspend for a period of two years general immigration into the United States, and for other purposes. That after general debate, which shall be confined to the resolution and shall cont nue not to exceed four hours, to be equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Immigration and Naturalization, the resolution shall be read for amendment under the five-minute rule. At the conclusion of the reading of the resolution for amendment the committee shall rise and report the resolution to the House with such amendments as may have been adopted, and the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the resolution and the amendments thereto to final passage without intervening motion, except one motion to recommit. [H. J. Res. 473, Seventy-first Congress, third session] JOINT RESOLUTION Further restricting for a period of two years immigration into the United States Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That for each of the fiscal years beginning July 1, 1931, and July 1, 1932, respectively, the quota in the case of any nationality for which a quota has been determined and proclaimed under the immigration act of 1924, as amended, shall be 10 per centum of such quota, but the minimum quota of any nationality shall be one hundred. SEC. 2. During such fiscal years no immigration visas shall be issued under subdivision (c) of section 4 of the immigration act of 1924, but in each of such fiscal years all the provisions of the immigration laws shall be applicable to immigrants born in any of the geographical areas specified in such subdivision as if each of such areas had a quota for such year equal to 10 per centum (but not less than one hundred) of the number of nonquota immigration visas issued, during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1930, to immigrants born in such area. SEC. 3. (a) For the purposes of the immigration act of 1917, the immigration act of 1924 (except section 13 (c)), this resolution, and all other laws of the United States relating to the immigration, exclusion, or expulsion of aliens, persons who are citizens of the insular possessions of the United States not included within the term "United States" as defined in the immigration act of 1924, and who are not citizens of the United States, shall, during each of the fiscal years specified in section 1 of this resolution, be considered as if they were aliens. For such purposes only each such insular possession shall be considered as if it were a separate country and as if it had for each of such fiscal years a quota of five hundred, if its population is in excess of five million, and of one hundred if its population is not in excess of five million. This subdivision shall not apply to a person coming or seeking to come to the Territory of Hawaii who does not apply for and secure an immigration or passport visa. (b) During such fiscal years citizens of such insular possessions who are not citizens of the United States shall not be admitted to the continental United States from the Territory of Hawaii (whether entering such Territory before or after the enactment of this resolution) unless they belong to a class declared to be nonimmigrants by section 3 of the immigration act of 1924 or to a class declared to be nonquota immigrants under the provisions of section 4 of such act other than subdivision (c) thereof, or unless they were admitted to such Territory under an immigration visa. The Secretary of Labor shall by regulations provide a method for such exclusion and for the admission of such excepted classes. (c) Any foreign service officer may be assigned duty in such insular possessions of the United States, under a commission as a consular officer, for such period as may be necessary and under such regulations as the Secretary of State may prescr.be, during which assignment such officer shall be considered as stationed in a foreign country; but his powers and duties shall be confined to the performance of such of the official acts and notarial and other services, which such officer might properly perform in respect of the administration of the immigration laws if assigned to a foreign country as a consular officer, as may be authorized by the Secretary of State. (d) For the purposes of sections 18 and 20 of the immigration act of 1917, as amended, such insular possessions of the United States shall, in each of the fiscal years enumerated in section 1 of this resolution, be considered to be foreign countries. SEC. 4. Whenever before July 1, 1933, the Secretary of Labor, upon the application of any person interested and after full hearing and investigation of the facts in the case, determines that a bona fide employer in the United States needs a person trained and skilled in an art, craft, technique, business, or science, of a particular class and qualifications, and that a person of such class and qualifications can not be found unemployed in the United States, he shall transmit to the Secretary of State his decision, including a detailed statement of the particular qualifications found essential, and the Secretary of State shall transmit such decision to the consular officer. A nonquota immigration visa may be issued to an alien found by the consular officer to possess the qualifications set forth in the decision of the Secretary of Labor and to be otherwise admissible under the immigration laws, at any time between July 1, 1931, and June 30, 1933, both dates inclusive, without regard to quota, but not to exceed three hundred in the aggregate of all classes in any one fiscal year. In the case of any such aliens who are subject to the contract-labor provisions of the immigration act of 1917, the decision of the Secretary of Labor shall also be considered, for the purposes of the fourth proviso of section 3 of such act (the so-called contract-labor waiver provision), as his determination of the necessity of importing such skilled labor. SEC. 5. The provisions of this resolution are in addition to the provisions of the immigration laws now in force, and shall be enforced as a part of such laws, and all the penal or other provisions of such laws, not inapplicable, shall apply to and be enforced in connect on with the provisions of this resolution. An alien, although admissible under the provisions of this resolution, shall not be admitted to the United States if he is excluded by any provision of the immigration laws other than this resolution, and an alien, although admissible under the provisions of the immigration laws other than this resolution, shall not be admitted to the United States if he is excluded by any provision of this resolution. SEC. 6. Terms defined in the immigration act of 1924 shall, when used in this resolution, have the meaning assigned to such terms in that act. SEC. 7. This resolution may be cited as the "Immigration act of 1931." House Report No. 2405, Seventy-first Congress, third session RESTRICTION OF IMMIGRATION JANUARY 27, 1931.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. JOHNSON of Washington, from the Committee on Immigration and Naturalization, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. J. Res. 473] The Committee on Immigration and Naturalization, to whom was referred the joint resolution (H. J. Res. 473) further restricting for a period of two years immigration into the United States, having had the same under consideration, reports it back to the House with an amendment and recommends that the joint resolution, as amended, do pass. The President in his message to the Congress at the beginning of the third session of the Seventy-first Congress recommended a revision of our immigration laws upon a more limited and more selective basis, flexible to the needs of the country. Recent surveys by governmental and other agencies have produced abundance of evidence of unemployment which by its very nature strikes at our basic economic structure thereby curtailing production in all our industries of every character throughout the country. Under these conditions the migration of immigrants under existing law would, it is believed, only tend to aggravate the unemployment situation, and this fact, if for no other reason, warrants the enactment of the proposed legislation. While the Departments of State and Labor have done exceptional service in reducing the migration of those who might become public charges or otherwise enter into the unemployed category, it was thought best to augment their efforts by necessary legislative sanction. Recent immigration and the number of immigrants to be admitted under the proposed bill, are shown in the attached tables, which are preceded by a summary, as follows: 3 SUMMARY (Tables I, II, and III attached) 1. PRESENT LAW Quota (see Table I, right hand column). Nonquota: 153, 714 Western Hemisphere (see Table II, right hand column) 62, 372 1 45, 097 Nonquota Western Hemisphere under numerical limitation (see Table II, 7, 637 45, 097 Other than Western Hemisphere 2 (see Table III). Total.... 72, 437 DIVISION OF QUOTAS INTO GEOGRAPHICAL AREAS UNDER THE PROPOSED 90 Australia (including Tasmania, Papua, and all islands appertaining to Australia). 1 Does not include visas issued under sec. 4 (a), certain relatives of American citizens, (b) aliens returning to an established domicile, (d) professors or ministers of religion, (e) students, and (f) certain female expatriates, in Western Hemisphere, as these figures are not available, having been included in reports during year anded June 30, 1930, under sec. 4 (c), natives of nonquota countries. Approximate for Canada, Newfoundland, Panama, and Canal Zone. 'No quota less than 100. |