Senator Herbert H. Lehman charged last night that the Eisenhower Administration has not publicly recognized the “chief evils” of the McCarran Walter Act. Speaking before the Decalogue Society, an organization of 1,500 Jewish attorneys and judges, the Senator said the Eisenhower proposals to revise the immigration law “came a long way in the direction I have been pointing for four years.” But, he added the President’s recommendation and the Watkins-Keating Bill, which have been introduced to carry out the President’s proposals, fall short of the complete revision that is needed to eliminate the “hostile and suspicious spirit.” of the law.
Sen. Lehman condemned the Watkins-Keating Bill for retaining the national origins quota system, which discriminates against prospective immigrants on the basis of race and national origin. He said the Watkins-Keating Bill discriminates against Asians, Jamaicans, natives of Trinidad and other islands in the Caribbean Sea. He said the Administration proposals discriminate against Africans.
He criticized the retention of the distinction between naturalized and native-born citizens which are left intact in the Watkins-Keating Bill. He added that “the acceptance by President Eisenhower of the concept of second-class citizenship I cannot and will not agree.” He pledged himself to an unceasing fight to eliminate the national origins quota system, all distinction between native and naturalized American citizens, and the ‘unnecessary harshness and injustices from all sections of the McCarran-Walter Act.’
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
