There is a widespread opinion here that the American Federation of Labor is responsible for the attempts now being made by immigration restrictionists to have Congress enact into law the bills calling for the registration of foreigners.
There are now two registration bills before the Congress. One was introduced by Congressman Aswell of Louisiana and the other by Congressman Cable of Ohio. Both bills would require immigrants to register annually.
Congressman Aswell’s bill is the stricter of the two. According to Aswell’s bill an immigrant would have to pay $100 fine or go to jail for sixty days, or both, if he failed to register. According to this bill, too, if an immigrant did not register for two years in succession he would be deported.
The proponents of registration claim that the chief aim of forced registration is to discover and deport immigrants who have entered America illegally. The immigrant who would have no registration certificate would be deported, unless he could show that he had been living in the country for five years.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
