Imperial Valley press., 1935-12-14
NATIONAL ATTENTION
ON ALIEN PROBLEMS

Rep. Martin Dies, Democrat, Texas
probably will have no success in January
when he introduces a bill in congress to
stop all new immigration, deport all
aliens who refuse to become citizens, and
otherwise regulate immigration under
rules far more strict than those now in
effect. Mr.. Dies proposal will be con-
sidered by many as extreme. There are
portions of it, however, against which
there can be no logical argument If for
no other reason, the proposal will be of
value in that it will bring immigration
and alien problems more sharply into
focus in the national spotlight.
There is one provision of the proposed
law which certainly should be enacted.
1t is that which would provide for de-
portation of all aliens who refuse to APP
ply for and take out citizenship under the
United States flag. These aliens, who
live their entire lives in this country, or
at least plan to make enough money in
the United States to last them the rest of
their lives, are not desirable residents of
the country when they do not respect the
government enough to become citizens.
Their proper place is in the countries
from which they come.
There are so many things to be con-
sidered in any discussion of immigration
restriction that no single persons view
point should be taken as all-conclusive,
however. The international problems
alone give room for hours of discussion.
An absolute bar against all immigration,
making no distinction between nations,
classes or persons, would create even
more complications. Restricted immi-
grafton, recognized as desirable, never
the-less develops questions which can
be solved only by experts. Any law in
tended to regulate immigration, there
fore, should be the object of deep study
before it is passed.
There is one provision which should
not be left out of any new immigration
law. 1t would provide for deportation
of all alien criminals, regardless of the
size of their pocketbooks or the vocabu-
larry of their attorneys. Criminals are
those who violate the laws of the nation,
whether the laws relate to bank robbery
or sedition. The robber, probably, is less
of an enemy of society than the alien
who advocates overthrow of the Amer
lean form of government by force and
violence.
Imperial county we'll knows the lenien-
CIV with which seditious aliens are often
treated. Of group sent to prison from
this county several years ago for urging
violence against the government, not one
was sent back to his own country with
out hope of return. One of them left the
United States, true, but he did so of his
own accord, and to take a government
position in Russia. Even the prison SEN
tence, through means of parole, was cut
to a minimum.
1t is a notorious fact that the gang
land population of the large cities is
made up to big extent of aliens who
have not and could not acquire citizen
ship Yet they prey on citizens, become
wealthy at the expense of society, and
pay for their crimes with brief prison
terms or no prison terms at all. Seldom
is there even q suggestion that they
should be deported to their native lands.
Perhaps it is consideration for the other
countriesi
Many of the problems of America
would be solved by deportation of unde-
sirable aliens, whether immigration were
stopped or not Many of those same
problems would remain, even though
immigration were stopped, if the present
undesirable aliens are allowed to remain.