Secretary of State Criticizes American Immigration Policy

Secretary of State Dean Acheson told President Truman’s Commission on Immigration and Naturalization “that United States immigration policy not only causes resentment weakening the friendship of some of our neighbors, but also causes or emphasizes economic dislocations that weaken those neighbors whom we need as strong partners and who can furnish us with sites for military bases and strategic raw materials.”

The Secretary’s assertion was made in a statement prepared for the Commission. He outlined the kind of immigration policy the State Department believes would “help and not hinder us in reaching the goals of our foreign policy.” It should be free from discrimination based on nationality or race, he said, and it should be flexible enough to help in solving the problem of overpopulation in Europe and the problem of escapees from behind the Iron Curtain.

With reference to the McCarran-Walter Act, Secretary Acheson said; “America’s position in the eyes of foreign peoples is deeply affected, and this is a vitally important point in the mid-twentieth century world situation.” He pointed out that the national origins quota system and its discriminatory theory, “always derogatory to our friends, is increasingly at variance with our protestations of equality and with our efforts to encourage mutual trust.”