Dismissal of Corsi As Immigration Act Aide Hit from All Sides

Dismissal of Edward J. Corsi from his State Department post as Refugee Relief Act trouble-shooter continued receiving harsh criticism from political leaders of both major parties this weekend. Corsi, a liberal Republican who has held various important jobs, including that of U. S. Commissioner of Immigration, has been a consistent critic of the McCarran-Walter Immigration Act, and a foe of the national origins quota system.

Appointed three months ago by Secretary of State John Foster Dulles to expedite immigrant entry under the Refugee Relief Act of 1953, Mr. Corsi had recommended that administration of the Refugee Relief program be taken out of the hands of Scott McLeod, State Department security chief. One of Mr. Corsi’s chief opponents has been Rep. Francis E. Walter, of Pennsylvania, co-author of the McCarran-Walter measure.

Senator Herbert H. Lehman today called the firing of Mr. Corsi “a shameless surrender to the opponents of reform of immigration and citizenship law. It is a capitulation to the apologists for the racial and national discrimination built into the McCarran-Walter Act.”

Rep. Emanuel E. Celler, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, accused Mr. Dulles of “buckling up” to pressure from “the McCarthy group,” and said that McLeod himself “is the real villain in this piece.”

New York State Attorney General Jacob K. Javits telegraphed to Mr. Dulles requesting reconsideration of Mr. Corsi’s dismissal “in our highest national interest” He told the Secretary of State he thought the McCarran-Walter Act should be rewritten, and praised Mr. Corsi highly for his record of public service, especially in immigration.

Nathan Chanin, chairman of the executive committee of the Jewish Labor Committee, issued a statement supporting Mr. Corsi and calling for “censure and repudiation” of Rep. Walter. Mr. Chanin termed the Corsi dismissal “reprehensible” and said it came “under the pressure of hysteria.”