Strong Pleas for Adoption of Bills to Alleviate Hardships of Immigration Law by Dr. Wise, Max Kohler

to a member of the Committee who said that America has no obligation to unite families of immigrants who had abandoned them in Europe.

“That is untrue,” he said. “These heads of families did not abandon their families in coming here, but came here first to make a home so they could follow.” In greeting Rabbi Wise, Chairman Johnson remarked “no hearing regarding immigration legislation would be complete without you, Dr. Wise.” Johnson also expressed the Committee’s sympathy and regret at the death of Louis Marshall, who had always appeared at immigration hearings.

Max J. Kohler made a valuable statement in support of the bills from a legal standpoint, giving his opinion as based on expert knowledge from long familiarity with immigration cases and legislation. Congressman Johnson referred to his statement appreciatively and suggested to Congressman Dickstein that he avail himself of Mr. Kohler’s assistance in preparing the testimony on the hearing for publication, Johnson having appointed Mr. Dickstein chairman of the sub-committee for this purpose.

Assistant Secretary of Labor W. W. Husband, who appeared for Secretary of Labor Davis, objected to only two bills; one for extending the legalizing status of aliens who entered unlawfully from June 3, 1920 to July 1, 1924, basing his opposition on the ground that such a large number of aliens entered unlawfully subsequent to June 3, 1921 with deliberate intent, that the Labor Department doubts the wisdom of extending complete forgiveness to these aliens at this time. Mr. Husband pointed out that they cannot be deported anyhow if they have been in America for five years, but that is no reason for giving them the privilege of becoming citizens, too.

Mr. Husband also objected to the bill to allow a temporary visitor to change his status to a permanent one. He left the impression with the Committee that the Labor Department favored the other bills, except that he proposed an amendment that parents 60 years of age or over of American citizens be exempted from the quota, instead of no age restriction. The amendment, however, does not apply to widows. Mr. Husband also suggested that the privilege of reapplying for admission by a deported alien should be extended only to those deported prior to March 4, 1929.

John Farr Simmons, chief visa officer of the State Department, endeavored to influence the Committee against the refugee bills, giving information to minimize the urgency of this bill. He said that the original 15,000 refugees are now reduced to 2,000, most of whom are Russians, and he predicted that these soon could be taken care of by an increase in the Russian quota under the national origins plan now in force, from 2,248 annually to 2,784. This increase, he said, furnished a reasonable expectation that there would soon again be available numbers in the Russia quota for refugee holders of visas.

Congressman Dickstein took issue with this statement and also with Simmons’s denial that the refugees included a considerable number of Poles and Roumanians. Simmons declared that 2,000,000 applications for visas have been applied for under the present law, 70 percent of which are from Southern and Eastern Europe, and he informed the Committee that the Consular Service was experiencing the greatest difficulty with applicants for temporary visas, whose actual intent through this means was to circumvent the law and remain in America permanently.

Former Congressman Perlman answered the objection that additional Russian Communists would enter America through the exception of parents by declaring that if any of these older people ever had any regard for Communism, which was doubtful, this is now changed to hatred for the Soviet on account of religious persecution, and they appreciate by comparison this country’s democratic government.

In addition to the aforementioned Jewish representatives, there were also present at the hearings Morris D. Waldman, secretary of the American Jewish Committee, Isadore Hershfield, Washington representative of the Hias, Max L. Hollander, Grand Secretary, and Isadore Apfel, counsel of the Independent Order of B’rith Abraham.