Capital Comment

Washington

The House Committee on Immigration and Naturalization has recommended the enactment of a law which would make it possible for the Federal government to exclude and deport aliens who are Fascists, Nazis or Communists. The measure recommended was introduced by Representative Martin Dies of Texas, a member of the committee. The bill is a direct out of un-American activities conducted during the last year.

It is pointed out that the necessity for enactment of this bill arises from the lack of definite legislative provision for the exclusion or deportation of Fascists, Nazis or Communists, as such, under existing Federal law. The act of October 16, 1918, as amended by the act of June 5, 1920, is the present basic act of Congress under which deportation proceedings are now instituted against aliens who are Communists. The application of this law in such cases is predecated upon court decisions, now effective as law, which have held that certain well-known groups are organizations—the principles, beliefs and activities of which are of such character as to class members thereof within the purview of the provisions of these basic acts of Congress.

It is interesting to note that the acts of 1918 and 1920 centered around the anarchistic idea of “opposition to all organized government.” On that basis alone Communist, Nazi, or Fascist aliens differ in that while they may be imbued with opposition to non-Communist government or opposition to non-Fascist governments, they are not opposed to all organized government, according to the House Committee on Immigration.

The committee points out that the decided differentiation of the subversive activities dominating anarchists, Communists, and Fascists rendered necessary the enactment by Congress of a bill similar to the Dies bill in order to enable the Federal government’s immigration and naturalization authorities to have a statute to guide them in handling cases of Communists, Nazis, and Fascists.

While the bill incorporates drastic language in defining the three elements because of the changed character of their subversive activities as carried on by certain classes of aliens, some legislative protection has been written into the measure as a safeguard for aliens who become the victims of the subtle methods by which these subversive groups carry on their activities. In this protective provision, it is stated that “No alien shall be held to be a Communist or Fascist under the provisions of this act if he shall prove that he became a member of such organization on account of fear, duress, compulsion, misrepresentation, or fraud.”

The introduction of this safeguard places the burden upon the alien under investigation to prove the nefarious circumstances that resulted in his affiliation and membership which contributed to his detention for observation under this act by immigration officials.

The House Committee on Immigration and Naturalization has recommended to the House that the Dies bill be enacted into law. This measure is one of several others introduced by various members of Congress following the revelations of the committee investigating un-American activities which was headed by Representative John W. McCormack of Massachusetts.

In recommending this type of legislation to curb subversive activities in the United States, the immigration committee emphasizes that it is now quite generally conceded that insofar as the United States is concerned, “our immigration question is a domestic question,” and therefore Congress is within its province when it declares that, as such, alien Communists, Nazis, or Fascists shall be subject to deportation or exclusion from the United States. The committee further emphasized that “current events and current knowledge concerning subversive activities of these classes of aliens convinces the committee that this bill should be enacted at the earliest possible opportunity.”

As reported to the House, the Dies bill is one of the most drastic anti-alien measures reported out for action during this session of Congress. Many leading national organizations, and groups of individuals have protested legislation of this kind on the ground that it endangers free speech and the free press.

The immigration committee, however, points out that the Dies bill does not affect any alien who, or the alien members of any organization which, although subscribing to the doctrine of a system of common ownership of property and the abolition of private property or the common ownership of the means of production, abstains from advising, advocating, or expressing belief in the establishment of such a doctrine, or doctrines, in the United States “through the use of force and violence or other methods incompatible with our constitutional proceedure.”

Members of the immigration committee are hopeful that the House will consider the Dies bill within the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, many members of Congress are studying the proposal and trying to determine just what it means.

Meanwhile, it may be expected that private organizations which favor the Dies bill will conduct a lobby in order to obtain its passage. Such a bill should not be enacted into law without mature thought and full consideration of its consequences. Representatives in Congress should consider every angle involved before they act on this far-reaching bill.