Convention of Jewish Congress Asks Revision of Immigration Law

The American Jewish Congress, at the closing session of its national convention last night, adopted a resolution stressing its long-standing demand for revision of the present immigration laws and welcoming President Eisenhower’s recent statement that the national origins quota system must be replaced.

“We regret, however,” the resolution said, “that the President has not called for immediate elimination of the system and has, in fact, accepted continuation of its evils as part of his proposals for immediate action. Those proposals, while in most respects desirable as far as they go, are marred by the fact that they would in many respects leave untouched provisions shaped in the spirit of bigotry and racism in which the McCarran Walter Act was conceived.”

The delegates urged that “the national origins quota system and all other provisions making the standard for admission of immigrants turn on race, ancestry or place of birth should be replaced by a standard based on the needs of our country, individual worth and humanitarian considerations.” Declaring that the evils of the present immigration law “are generally recognized and have been proclaimed by both President Truman and President Eisenhower,” the convention called on Mr. Eisenhower immediately to “fulfill his pledges to work for a just immigration and nationality code and to place the full weight of his power and prestige in support of a complete revision of the McCarran-Walter Act.”

(Attorney General Herbert Brownell asked Congress this week-end to re-examine the national origins quota system with a view toward establishing a new basic immigration policy as called for by President Eisenhower in his recommendations to change the McCarran-Walter Act.)