The Interior Department is drafting legislation to permit political refugees to enter Alaska Secretary Harold L. Ickes stated at a press conference today.
Two alternative plans will be offered he said one under which immigrants could enter under existing quota regulations and become citizens and another providing that refugees would enter regardless of their place on the quota and remain until they would be eligible for immigration to the United States.
The legislation will call for no Federal aid Mr. Ickes said but the Department would cooperate in organizing corporations like the Old Hudson Bay Company to undertake colonization and the development of resources. Mr. Jokes announcement followed issuance earlier this week of an Interior Department report on Alaskan settlement possibilities which stressed the vital role that could be played by refugees from intolerance in European countries.
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