President Truman told the National Conference on Citizenship today that he considers the McCarran Walter Omnibus Immigration Act "unfair" in some respects "and, in others, inadequate to meet the problems our country faces today."
He asked delegates to the conference and the organizations they represent to do all they could to help his new commission on immigration and naturalization "in the important work it is undertaking." Mr. Truman said that "we expect our citizens to put aside these old nationalistic or racial fends. They have no place here. We welcome you not to a narrow nationalism but to a great community based on a set of universal truths."
"We believe that all men have the same rights," the President said, "and that these rights must be respected. We ask you to join with us in working to put into effect our basic ideals of tolerance and friendship and equality."
COMMISSION SETS HEARINGS THROUGHOUT COUNTRY
Philip B. Perlman, chairman of the president’s new Commission on Immigration and Naturalization, announced today following a meeting with Mr. Truman at the White House, that hearings will be held by the commission throughout the country to look into what the President described as "the inequities fostered by the new law."
Mr. Truman assured members of the commission, which held its first meeting yesterday, of his deep interest. He expressed hope for a report including recommendations which would prove of value. The entire commission met with Mr. Truman this afternoon and plans for the commission’s "whistle stop" undertaking, among other questions, were discussed.
Hearings will be conducted by the commission in New York City beginning Sept. 30 and will continue through Oct. 1. Other hearings include Boston, Oct. 2; Cleveland, Oct. 6; Detroit, Oct. 7; Chicago, Oct. 8 and 9; Minneapolis-St. Paul, Oct. 10; St. Louis, Oct. 11; San Francisco, Oct. 14; Los Angeles, Oct. 15, and Atlanta, Oct. 17. Hearings will be held later in Washington.
Organizations wishing to submit testimony have been asked to communicate with Harry Hosenfield, executive director of the commission. The commission will report its findings to the President before Jan. 1, 1953.
(The new commission "will accomplish little more than meet, study the immigration problem. issue a lengthy report and then cease to exist, without any Congressional action being taken on its recommendations," the New York World-Telegram said today in a Washington dispatch. The dispatch cited the failure of previous Truman commissions, notably the Commission on Civil Rights, to accomplish legislative ends and said that "at this stage, there is little indication that the commission’s efforts will lead to any substantial change in the McCarran Act.’)
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