Sen. Clifford P. Case, New Jersey Republican, told a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee today that “decency and compassion” demanded that Republicans and Democrats redeem campaign pledges to revise the McCarran-Walter Immigration Act. He said immigration laws should be changed “for the sake of enriching our culture and developing our economy.” He said that a fair immigration policy would give us “integrity in our relations with other nations.”
Sen. Case urged the subcommittee to approve a bill he is co-sponsoring to admit yearly 60,000 escapees from tyranny. It would also authorize admission annually of 40,000 special non-quota immigrants for two years starting tomorrow in connection with the opening of World Refugee Year.
Sen. Case called for revision of the national origins quota system, terming it “unabashedly racist.” He said the bias in this system did “untold damage to the prestige of the United States” in Asia, Africa, and southern and eastern Europe.
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