No exemptions to relatives of any description will be granted, according to the decision of the Senate sub-committee on Immigration of which Senate Reed of Pennsylvania is Chairman, according to information received from reliable sources by the correspondent of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. In view of the reduction in the immigration quotas of two percent, made by the Senate Immigration Committee a few days ago, it was regarded as practically certain that to compensate for this reduction the sub-committee in carrying out its function of perfecting the remaining details of the bill, would at least grant exemption from quota restrictions such close relatives as wives, husbands, minor children and elderly parents. Even the Johnson Bill, which is regarded as being harsh in its restrictions, permits of such exemptions, although it is based on the census of 1890 rather than of 1910 as the Senate measure.
It is learned that the sub-committee in executive session Tuesday decided only to give such relatives as are mentioned above preference over non-relatives in the issuance of immigration certificates. As one immigration authority pointed out yesterday, this will not obviate the cruelty and hardship which would result from a separation of families, as the reduction in percentage means that quotas will be filled even more rapidly than heretofore, making it impossible for many relatives to obtain certificates and come to America to join their families. The entire bill is practically completed now, it is understood, and is in process of being printed and will be ready for distribution within the next few days, when the remaining features of the bill will become known.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
