Hoover Commits Self to Continuation of Present Restriction of Immigration

Continuation of the present policy of immigration restriction until the end of the depression and a policy of wise and selective immigration of a limited order thereafter was advocated by President Hoover in an address delivered here Saturday enroute to Detroit.

The present immigration policy “has been to protect the American workman in his standard of living and in the increasing comfort of his home,” the President declared.

“If we are to maintain within our borders our own industries, if we are to maintain our standard of living higher than the rest of the world, the handmaiden to that policy must be that there should not be a flow of immigration, fleeing from the lower standards of living abroad, flooding our country and offering to work for less wages than the American workman, at the gate of every factory in the United States. It is just as important to protect the American workman from the movement of the people into the United States to take over his job as to protect him from a flow of goods from abroad which would take away his job.

“The United States has received invaluable contributions in its building, in the growth of its culture from the migration of various races of Europe. It has held its doors open to those who have fled from persecution, both religious and political. With the growth of democracy in foreign countries, political persecution has largely ceased. There is no longer a necessity for the United States to provide an asylum for those persecuted because of conscience.

“It is important that we should restrict immigration in order that those who are already resident in our country may not be driven into unemployment. We should be wise and humane in our restrictions. It must not spare families. It must not prevent the coming into our country of the relatives of residents already here. It must in ordinary times allow a flow of selective streams of peoples to refresh our population with the ideas and contributions of foreign countries to our civilization.

“It must recruit from them our share of their advancing skill and their advancing knowledge. It should be based upon our determination of who shall come. But in times of great crisis like the present, where we have millions of unemployed, it is an injustice and inhumanity to our own residents that we should allow the entry of people fleeing from starvation abroad. The obligation remains upon those countries to take care of their own people.

“Therefore, by executive order two years ago I stopped the entry of all immigrants to the United States except the relatives of residents who are still here and a few other minor exceptions. Two years have now passed since that order was issued. If we had had the same immigration during these last two years that we had in the two years previous we should have nearly a half million more unemployed in our country than we have today. This would have added 500,000 new immigrants to be cared for by our public bodies and by our charitable associations. Or, alternatively, it would have taken 500,000 jobs from our residents and thrust them upon public charity.

“I propose to continue this policy until the end of this depression, and after the end of the depression, we propose to continue the policy of wise and selective immigration of a limited order,” President Hoover concluded.