The “national origins” quota basis of the present immigration policy of the United States was criticized here tonight at the inaugural dinner of the National Committee for Immigration and Citizenship by Governor Goodwin J. Knight of California and Governor Edmund Muskie of Maine. Both charged that the present U. S. immigration policy jeopardizes America’s relations “with a great many nations.”
Governor Knight cited the importance of immigration to our own national economy and culture. “Our entire American way of life,” he said, “has always been improved by a liberal addition to our population of people from all parts of the world, regardless of their color, their religions, their national ties, their economic status or their social position.”
Governor Muskie summarized his views with two recommendations: 1. People should be admitted to the United States because of who they are, not where they are from 2. All citizens, whether naturalized or native-born, should have equal rights as well as responsibilities. “Citizenship is a privilege.” he asserted, “but no citizen should be more privileged than any other. Naturalized citizens, and even the native-born, do not have the same protection and rights of citizenship they formerly had.”
One of the most important principles of the new organization stresses that American immigration and citizenship policies should be free from any implication of superiority between peoples because of race, nationality, or religion. The Committee will conduct a vigorous educational campaign throughout the nation to stimulate public interest in immigration and citizenship, it was announced at the dinner.
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.
