The House today opened debate on the so-called Hobbs “Concentration Camp Bill” providing for the detention of deportable aliens who cannot be sent from the country because of international conditions.
This bill would permit immigration officials to detain deportable aliens without trial for periods up to five months, and indefinitely if they had been convicted previously of certain offenses. Attorney General Francis Biddle supported the bill originally because it contained provisions liberalizing immigration laws. But those provisions have been stricken out and Biddle has announced his opposition to the bill as it now stands.
As the debate opened today indication was seen that many conservative supporters of the measure may not vote for it because of modifying amendments which have been added to the legislation, largely through administration influence. Representative Dewey Short of Missouri struck the keynote of this unexpected opposition to the measure with a speech attacking the bill in its present form. Judiciary Committee liberals will also fight it, but the House has passed similar legislation before and very likely will enact this bill.
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.
