House Committee Adopts Johnson Deportation Bill with Severe Clauses

Executive Session to Consider Legislation Uniting Separated Families (Jewish Daily Bulletin)

The House Immigration Committee, on an motion of Congressman Dickstein of New York yesterday decided to begin consideration of legislation for uniting separated families or aliens now in the United States on the thirty-first of this month, when the Committee will go into executive session for this purpose.

According to this decision, not public hearings will be held as heretofore, instead, the committee will forthwith start acting on the proposed legislation itself. Congressman Dickstein expressed satisfaction with this decision, declaring the question of the separation of families has been thoroughly discussed before and to hold public hearings again would only waste valuable time and thus endanger action before adjournment.

At its meeting yesterday the Committee also voted to favorably report Congressman Johnson’s deportation bill Congressman Dickstein made a strong fight against the most objectionable features of the bill, particularly that clause removing the limitation period for deportation of aliens convicted of any of tense committed after enactment of the bill involving an imprisonment sentence of one year or more. The Committee decided to retain this provision and Congressman Dickstein succeeded only in obtaining a reduction of the limitation period from 7 to 5 years for certain deportations on other grounds. Congressman Dickstein also attacked the first mentioned ground of deportation because it would permit deportation for any offense even a minor one, where the alien perhaps because of property, could not defend himself and is given a sentence of one year or more. Under the present law only crimes involving moral turpitude have a limitation period of three years for deportation.

Congressman Dickstein pointed out that the proposed drastic change will encourage the blackmail of innocent aliens and destroy families after they have been in this country for many years. He also opposed the clause calling for the deportation of persons of “psychopathic infer## which is such a vague clause, he said that anyone could be deported since this phrase has never been satisfactory defined.

The bill will be formally filed in the House within next few days. Congressman Dickstein obtained leave to file a minority report which in all probability will be signed also by Congressmen Saboth Golder and McGregor.