Evening star., 1936-04-26
BY REX COLLIER.


Congress-has precipitated an
Il unusually spirited battle be-
tween administration liberals" and
patriotic society "restrictionists," with
indications that a final showdown is
not far distant.
More than 100 alien bills are pend
ing before the immigration and Nat
uralization Committees at the Capitol,
but many Of them are for the relief"
of individuals alleged to be suffering
injustices under present laws.
OF the numerous general bills COW
ering problems of deportation and
immigration, there have emerged two
major ones around which the re-
spective factions have rallied in a
determined, last-ditch stand"
One is the administration backed
Kerr Coolidge bill, which has reached
the floor of the Senate and has been
the object Of a filibuster by Senator
Reynolds, Democrat, Of North Caro-
lima.
Favored by d. A. r.
The other is the Starnes-Reynolds
bill, favored by the D. A. r., the
American Legion and other patriotic
organizations. on which public hear
ings are being held by the House
Committee on immigration and Nat
uralization.
A hint as to the attitude Of this
committee on the Starnes- Reynolds
hill rnv,totnad a in radin oIdrncc
last week by Chairman Samuel Dick
stein. who declared that bill contains
vicious" proposals.
Summed up, the principal points at
issue in the controversy over depor-
tation of alien criminals, aliens who
entered the country illegally and other
so-called undesirables, is whether
there should be set up an interde-
partmental board with discretionary
powers of deportation in non-criminal
cases, and whether there should be a
requirement for the registration and
flngerprinting of all aliens.
There are other disputed points, of
course, but the bitterest fight has
been waged over the board of dis
cretion" proposed in the Kerr-Cool-
idge bill and the registration and fin
gerprinting provision Of the Starnes-
Reynolds bill.
Societies Oppose Board.
The patriotic societies have lined
up determinedly against vesting of
discretionary powers in any such
board as that suggested. The board
would be composed of representa-
tiyes of the Labor, State and Justice
Departments, each of which has an
interest in alien deportation. The
societies insist that deportation Of
aliens illegally in this country would
be mandatory.
Dickstein and other supporters of
the Kerr-Coolidge bill, on the other
hand, contend that discretion is
needed to avert "inhumane" injus-
tices. They envision families being
torn apart and their members scat
tered to several countries unless dis
cretion is exercised by some such i'm
partial agency as the interdepart-
mental board.
The Department of Labor has
stayed deportation in more than
1880 cases where immigration Off
cials reported that severe hardships
would result from mandatory depor-
tation of aliens under existing laws.
The interdepartmental board would
review these cases, and others of
the same category that may arise
from time to time. and would have
power to save deserving aliens from
being separated from their families.
Supporters of both bills claim their
respective measures will tighten up
the laws dealing with aliens and, at
the same time, will Danish the evil
of broken up homes arising under
present statutes.
Title of Bill Cited.
The title of the Starnes- Reynolds
bill reads: "A bill to further reduce
immigration, to authorize the exclu-
sion of any alien whose entry into
the United States is inimical to the
public interest, to prohibit the sepa-
ration of families through the entry
of aliens leaving dependents abroad
and to provide for the prompt de-
portation of habitual criminals arc
all other undesirable aliens now il
the United States or who shall here
after be admitted"
The title to the Kerr Coolidge bill
reads: "A bill to authorize the de.
portation of criminals, to guare
against the separation from theil
families of aliens of the non-crimina
classes, to provide for legalizing tht
residence in the. United States of Ger.
tain classes of aliens, and for othel
purposes"
Present law provides for the man
datory deportation of certain crimi
mails, prostitutes, Anarchists, Com
munists and similar ''undesirables
named in the immigration act O
1917.
The Starnes-Reynolds bill expand
this provision greatly by eliminatin.
certain technical obstacles that hav,
arisen under existing deportation
laws and rulings, and by addini
classes of criminals not touched b,
the present laws.
Loophole in Law Revealed.
Under the present law, for example
the alien who possesses a gangste
machine gun is not deportable b.
reason Of that fact alone. He mus
have been convicted and sentenced
for certain serious crimes before h
can be sent back to his own country
The Starnes- Reynolds b.l provide
for the prompt deportation of an.
alien convicted of possessing an.
concealed or dangerous" weapon or
regardless of conviction, if h,
knowingly possesses or carries an,
weapon which shoots or is designed
to shoot automatically"
| The Kerr Coolidge bill would de-
port an alien convicted of crime in
volving moral turpitude within flv'
years Of the institution Of deportation
proceedings, whether or not he wa!
sentenced to imprisonment. Presen
law provides that an alien crimina
| cannot be deported for one crime