Evening star., 1934-05-25
immigration Should Be
Decreased, Not Increased

To the Editor Of The Star.
I want to express my approval of
the letter by F. Wilson in your col
umns recently and my disapproval Of
the article headed: New Deal Asked
For Aliens"
There was not a single one of the
alien deportation hardship cases in
the article, based on the so-called
Ellis Island Report, that did not origi-
nate in law breaking by the alien. In
many Of the instances cited the alien
entered the country illegally. Depor-
tation is the proper penalty for illegal
entry. Why should not aliens obey
our laws? To allow aliens, whose first
act here is unlawful entry-that is, law
breaking-to escape that penalty by
marrying some one, evading capture
for few years, or having a relative
here, would make a farce of our i'm
migration, and other laws. There may
be instances that call for mercy and
forgiveness, but such should not be
held out deflnitively, as proposed in
one of the five bills" as a premium,
with non-payment of head tax, ex-
emption from immigrant inspection,
visa requirement, and the like, thrown
In.
Another Of the bills, H. r. 1865,
would admit nonquota, and therefore,
without any numerical limitation,
step-children, husbands, mothers and
fathers over go, thus increasing i'm
migration, when such near relatives
can now come within quotas, because
last year and this year the quotas
were only per cent filled. To take
such near relatives out of the quotas,
where they now have first preference
and can come, If otherwise admissible,
would create vacuum therein to suck
in more new seed immigrants which
in turn would draw in their near rela-
tives, creating an endless chain Of job
hunters and dependents.
To legalize illegal entries for all
time as proposed in H R. 1864 would
invite illegal entries, and law break
ing.
To repeal all existing mandatory de-
portation statutes, shift the burden of
proving deportation causes" to the
Government, and comforting on Sec
retary Perkins autocratic authority to
deport or not deport as she finds"
''in the public interest" would result
in all kinds of political, organization
and other pressure and substitute
written law for personal opinion. 1t
would be unAmerican and contrary
to defined, written authority and
fundamental American governmental
ideals.
AT the hearing on these five bills
the Congressman who introduced them
withdrew or repudiated four of the
five, because of misunderstanding"
or Misrepresentation" and Commits
sioner MacCormack finally admitted
the bills were not only not admins
tration bills, as had been represented.
but were not even to be considered
Department of Labor bills, and only
on their merits" / have been reliably
informed that he and Miss Perkins
have withdrawn support entirely for
one Of them and modified radically
the departments support of others.
thus showing how crudely drawn the
five bills are.
Immigration should be decreased in
stead of increased, alien deportations
should be increased instead of de-
creased, and if there are deserving
cases of deportable aliens, let Congress
IN a bill specifically take care of such
on proper showing, instead of any
such wholesale repeal of all manda-
tory alien deportation statutes, as
these five bills propose.
ID. MASON.