With plea to the Congress that it reaffirm the “great tradition of sanctuary” in America, President Eisenhower this week-end urged that it adopt ten specific amendments to the Refugee Relief Act of 1953. He asked that action be taken duing the present Congressional session.
By enacting the changes he recommended the President said, Congress “would permit effective administration of the Act by the executive branch of the Government and greatly aid the success of the program.” The President’s message reported that “during the last year and a half, substantial progress has been made in setting up the complex organization required to administer the technical requirements of the Act.” But he went on to add that experience has demonstrated that administrative improvements if the Act’s objectives are to be fully achieved.
The suggested amendments include a proposal that unused quota numbers in various categories be made use of, possibly for orphans, on a world-wide basis; that definitions of the terms “refugee,” “resettlement” “escapee” and “expellee” be liberalized; that requirement of a passport be waived where it is deemed feasible; and that organizational sponsorship be accepted as sufficient.
Reaction to the President’s proposal was swift. Chairman Emanuel Celler of the House Judiciary Committee commended the recommendations, but criticized the President for failing to remove Scott McLeod as administrator of the program. McLeod, he said, “had neither the mental equipment nor the human sympathy” to entitle him to the wide discretionary powers in the administration of the program. Senator Herbert H. Lehman said “the President has responded to the public demand that the shame of the Refugee Relief Act he remedied.”
Senator Arthur V. Watkins of Utah predicted that the proposals would be adopted and expressed confidence that if they were the full number of refugees would be admitted before the expiration date. But Representative Francis E. Walter of Pennsylvania, coauthor of the McCarran-Walter Act, opposed the President’s move and freely predicted its defeat.
The American Jewish Committee, in a statement issued by its president, Irving M. Engel, applauded the Administration move, and said that it should be viewed as a “prelude toward the overhaul of our basic immigration policy as expressed in the McCarran-Walter Act.”
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