House Committee Rejects Resolution to Admit Families of Declarants

(Jewish Daily Bulletin)

The Immigration Committee of the House refused yesterday to take action on the resolution introduced by Representative Jacobstein, which would permit wives and minor children of declarants to enter this country as non-quota immigrants.

An identical resolution introduced in the Senate by Senator Copeland also has been held up by the Immigration Committee.

Coert Du Bois, head of the visa division of the State Department, presented to the committee estimates showing that about 175,000 wives and children would be admitted under the Jacobstein resolution. Mr. Jacobstein said:

“The figures submitted by Mr. Du Bois are estimates based on rough averages made by the Consuls of important stations in Europe. I estimate that 75,000 would come in under my resolution. My figures are based on the American sources, taken from figures supplied by our own Bureau of Naturalization.”

Mr. Jacobstein expressed regret that no estimates had been presented by the Naturalization Bureau, saying:

“No reason was given for this. I am sure that those figures would prove that the State Department’s estimates are too high.

“The truth may lie somewhere between the figures of the State Department and my own, but for the sake of the argument I am going to assume that the State Department figure is correct. It simply means that there are that many wives and children still detached from the husbands and fathers on this side. It will require several years for these families to be reunited under our present quota Immigration Law.

“Surely a country of 115,000,000 souls can, without danger to itself or its institutions, admit 175,000 wives and minor children. Only the most short-sighted and narrow-minded prejudice can account for obstruction of the passage of this just and humane amendment to the Immigration Law.”