Evening star., 1936-06-26
Neglected Facts About
The Deportation Bills
70 the Editor Of The star:

0OlGC VI tIlC pic Ill SOllAuiClItilAS OA
bills and resolutions that failed in the
last Congress grossly misrepresented the
facts about the Kerr Coolidge alien de-
portation bills. 1t was even said that
the bill If enacted would deport 10000
additional alien criminals the fist year
and 5000 additional annually thereafter.
Six of it's thirteen sections could be made
by law enforcement officers in sympathy
with executing the law to increase the
deportation of alien lawbreakers, but the
seven other sections, containing three
major and four minor discretionS to abb
solutely nullify existing deportation
statutes, could be used by temperamental
sentimentalists, so-called "humanitari-
ans" or anti-reStrictioniStS who happen
to be in authority, to absolutely scuttle
existing inadequate immigration reStric-
ton and Inadequate alien deportation
statutes.
Representative Smith of Virginia, q
member of the House Rules Committee
when Chairman Dickstein, Commissioner
MacCormack and other proponents of
the Kerr-Coolidge bill were before the
Rules Committee seeking unsuccessfully
rule for the consideration of the Kerr
Coolidge bill, urged that the obnoxious
discretions be separated from the six
other sections and two bills be made of the
bill, inasmuch as there were no objec-
tionS of consequence to the six sections
and the bill containing those provisions
would be Immediately passed by Con-
gress. The commissioner and chairman
objected, and showed what they wanted
was not really increased deportations
and more effective deportation laws, but
decreased deportations through admin
istrative discretions.
The gist of the Kerr Coolidge bill,
namely, administration discretions to
nullify restriction and deportation laws,
has been before Congress for three con-
secutive years, reaching vote once, on
June Is. 1884, in the House. when only
80 votes could be mustered for it after
several hours debate, and when it was
decisively defeated by over to l. The
bill pending on the calendar at the close
of this Congress last Saturday was the
tenth revised version of that atrocious
legislative proposal, every previous draft,
as that one. meeting with unanswerable
objections and causing a new revised
version. For the bill on the Senate call
endar IS. 2969) there was offered in the
name Of the Senate committee, but pre-
pared by the Department of Labor an
eleventh and another completely new re-
vised version, which contained the same
old obnoxious, Objectionable three major
and four minor discreticns, but in an
other and modified form. There was
absolutely new objectionable matter in
this eleventh draft, such as the absurd,
monStrouS provision that neither this
Congress nor any future Congress should
legislate any further" hardship relief.
OF course. such a measure could no
more stand analysis and consideration
than any of the previous drafts, and a
poll of the Senate by administration
leaders revealed that two-thirds of the
Senate would vote against the latest
revision. Consequently the department
then prepared another draft in the form
Of joint resolution. that Senator
Schwellenbach tried to have substituted
after the enacting clause of the Kerr
Coolidge bill last Saturday, only to be
refused even consideration of the pro-
poSal. But this last and twelfth draft
is interesting, because it does not con-
tain single one of the six sections to
which no one objects and that would
strengthen existing deportation statutes
and would tend to increase the deporta-
tions of alien criminals. The last draft,
or so-called joint resolution, would, If
passed, have made oaths of Office ridicu-
lous and government by law under the
Constitution farce, because by it Con-
gress would have approved the deliberate
and premeditated refusal of admins
traitors to carry out mandatory deporta-
ton statutes.
And may I say that the statements
that the 1852 aliens whose deportations
have been stayed are law-abiding, nom
criminal persons of good morals has been
cOnclusively disproved by unimpeachable
evidence presented to the Senate by Sen
ator Reynolds on April and 4, and
to the House by Representative Starnes
on April 8, after an examination of the
original files Of these cases in the De-
partment of Labor. To enact any one
Of the twelve drafts of this proposed
alien deportation legislation would have
placed aliens who have committed per-
jury and forgery, WIN have peddled dope
who have murdered their fellow man and
who have practiced prostitution in a
favored class, while no excuse of any
family obligation saves citizen from
criminal prosecution for like offenses.
Existing law makes illegal or fraudulent
alien entries a felony, punishable by jail
sentence of five years and a fine of
$4,000, and requires the Secretary Of
Labor ito take into custody and to de-
port" There is absolutely no authority
anywhere in any law authorizing any ad-
ministration officer ito stay" deporta.
tions. The deportation statutes are
mandatory, as they should be. They
have been evaded. ignored and f1agrantly
defied for three years. Any congressional
Endorsement of any such acts is unthif1k-
able. Deportation is not Imprisonment.
Deportation is merely the returning of
an alien to his or her native land, where
the right kind of an alien ought to have
the most friends and be able to get along
the best in these times of depression and
struggle. J.D. MASON,