Congress Gets Bill Calling for Admission of 400,000 Dp’s on War-time Quotas

Rer. W. G. Stratton, Ill. Republican, today introduced into the House a bill calling for the admission into the United States of a maximum of 400,000 displaced persons over a period of four years, from UNRRA camps in Germany, Austria and Italy.

The bill “authorizes the United States during an emergency period to undertake its fair share in the resettlement of displaced persons in Germany, Austria and Italy, including relatives of citizens or of members of our armed forces by permitting their admission into the United States in a number equivalent to a part of the total quota numbers unused during the war years.”

Titled the “Emergency Temporary Displaced Persons Admissions Act,” the bill provides that those applying for permanent residence in the United States must qualify under all U.S. immigration laws. The rate of admission under the proposed bill would be limited to 100,000 annually for a four-year period. Authority to prescribe the necessary regulations for administering the bill would go to the Secretary of State and the Attorney General.

The bill defines a displaced person as anyone in Germany, Italy and Austria who was forced from his homeland by war and unable or unwilling to return because of “persecution or his fear of persecution on account of race, religion or political opinions.”

Earl Harrison, chairman of the Citizens Committee on Displaced Persons, and Dean of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, commenting on the bill, said that when it “becomes law it will not upset America’s immigration policy. It is an emergency measure for an emergency condition. In addition,” he declared, “our nation would be enriched by thousands of willing workers skilled in many crafts and trades and in the sciences.”

The bill was referred to the House Judiciary Committee, which is scheduled to call hearings in serveral weeks.