Source: http://www.thesocialcontract.com/artman2/publish/tsc_17_01/So_Much_for_Promises_printer.shtml
Timestamp: 2018-01-16 13:28:02
Document Index: 590686428

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 1', 'art 1', 'art 1', 'art 1', 'art 1', 'art 1', 'art 2', 'art 2', 'art 2', 'art 2', 'art 2', 'art 2']

http://www.thesocialcontract.com/artman2/publish/tsc_17_01/So_Much_for_Promises.shtml
Keywords: 1965 immigration act, congress
Since the 1965 Immigration Act went into effect, more than 30 million immigrants, most from non-European, Third World countries have poured into the United States . Today, most of the U.S. population growth is due to these immigrants, and their offspring. These results contradict promises made to American citizens by the Act’s Congressional Sponsors, as revealed in their own words.
“In fact, the distribution of limited quota immigration can have no significant effect on the ethnic balance of the United States …. Total quota immigration is now 156,782; under the proposed bill, it would rise to 164,482. Even if all these immigrants came from Italy , for example, the net effect would be to increase the number of Italo-Americans by one-tenth of 1 percent of our population this year, and less as our population increases. Americans of Italian extraction now constitute about 4 percent of our population; at this rate, considering our own natural increase, it would take until the year 2000 to increase that proportion to 6 percent. Of course, S.500 would make no such radical change. Immigration from any single country would be limited to 10 percent of the total—16,500—with the possible exception of the two countries now sending more than that number, Great Britain and Germany . But the extreme case should set to rest any fears that this bill will change the ethnic, political, or economic makeup of the United States…[w]e bar immigration by those individuals who would compete for jobs for which the supply of labor is adequate for the demand…we bar immigration by individuals who have demonstrated that they do not hold such allegiance [to our fundamental precepts of political freedom an democratic government]…. If it is true that those from northern Europe , as individuals, can make greater contributions to this country than can others, then this legislation will bring them here. If the legislation does not bring them here, then the assumptions on which defenders of the present system rely are wholly false…[S.500] will facilitate the entry of skilled specialists…the level of immigration now proposed is far less than that thought ‘assimilable’ by the most restrictionist Congress [1924] in our history…. As far as the quota system, it [S.500] increases it about 9,000 and as far as a practical matter, it increases it about 50,000. It is not a large number.’’ (Senate Part 1, Book 2, pp.216-218, 226, 242)
“…the notion was created that somehow or another, 190 million [the population of the U.S. in 1965] is going to be swallowed up. None of us would want that, this bill does not seek to do it and the bill could not do it.’’ (Senate Part 1, Book 1, p.29)
“…the people who have built up America , Anglo-Saxons, and the northern peoples of Europe , are not discriminated against in this bill…the people from that part of the world [the Asia-Pacific Triangle] probably will never reach 1 percent of the [ U.S. ] population…. Our cultural pattern will never be changed as far as America is concerned…. It will become more cosmopolitan but still there is that fundamental adherence to European culture…. We feel those people [from northern Europe] who have been preferred in former immigration bills would still be treated fairly…one of the reasons why the United States was attacked, on December 7, 1941, was because of these exclusionary laws [the 1924 Immigration Act] which had fomented so much bad feeling between the peoples of Japan and the United States.’’ (Senate Part 1, Book 1, pp.72, 119, 120, 144)
“I do not think it [S.500] amounts to a serious increase in the number of persons admitted…I have read the statements of the Malthusian pessimists, and they be right, of course, but I doubt if this bill will really be the cause of crowding the present Americans out of the 50 states…I do not believe an increase of 66,000 opens the door wide.’’ (Senate Part 1, Book 1, p.136)
“This bill is not designed to increase or accelerate the number of newcomers permitted to come to America… this bill would retain all the present security and health safeguards of the present law… the overall effect of this bill on employment would, first of all, be negligible, and second, that such effect as might be felt would not be harmful, but beneficial. The actual net increase in total immigration under this bill would be about 60,000. Those immigrants who seek employment are estimated at a maximum of 24,000. Our present labor force, however, is 77 million. Statistically or practically, we are talking about an infinitesimal amount; 24,000 is about three one-hundredths of 1 percent of 77 million a good part of even these 24,000 additional workers would not even be competitors for jobs held or needed by Americans. I would expect very little change in the immigration from the Western Hemisphere .’’ (Senate Part 1, Book 1, pp.8, 13-14, 31)
“…the maximum allotment of numbers in any one fiscal year could not exceed the sum of all immigration quotas in effect on the date of enactment of the bill, roughly 166,000. Immigration now comes in limited volume and includes a relatively high proportion of older people and persons of high skill and training. The significance of immigration for the United States now depends less on the number than on the quality of the immigrants…. Under present circumstances our country has a rare opportunity to draw migrants of high intelligence and ability from abroad…. I think the average immigration from the Western Hemisphere over the past 5 years has been about 125,000 a year. We do not anticipate a large increase in those nonquota applications…. The opportunities here in the United States, the opportunities which attract immigration, are the more sophisticated opportunities, for the educated, for the trained, for the industrial worker, for the technician, for those who can enter into a more sophisticated part in our life than they could if they came in without skills and without any training ‘’ (Senate Part 1, Book 1, pp. 48, 50, 52)
“[S.500] sets the limit of how many people we think are desirable to keep the mix I may be wrong. Maybe there will be a huge surge from India or a huge surge from Africa , but I would tend to doubt it.’’ (Senate Part 2, Book 1, pp. 561,563)
“…while the national origins rule will be eliminated in establishing quotas for foreign countries, this does not mean that the bill would permit a floodtide of new immigrants into this country. As a matter of fact, the total number of potential immigrants would not be changed very much.’’ (Senate Part 2, Book 3, p. 853)
“The proposed legislation would not greatly increase the number of immigrants….’’ (Senate Part 2, Book 3, 854)
“S.500 does not let down the bars completely. It would not substantially increase the total number of immigrants to be admitted to the United States . It would not reduce the security safeguards for keeping out political undesirable[s]. It would not diminish the requirements designed to keep out persons likely to become public charges.’’ (Senate Part 2, Book 3, p. 857)
“ the 1924 exclusion act against just the Japanese contributed to the downfall of the democratic liberal elements in Japan and allowed the militarists, the jingoists, the imperialists to take over and lead Japan on the dreadful path of World War II… none of us should take for granted that S.500 is the ultimate in immigration law let us recognize even this law cannot wipe out the widespread favoritism for Europeans, which has existed in our law.’’ (Senate Part 2, Book 2, pp. 628, 629) ‘’Let’s make no mistake about this. This legislation is in the national interests of the United States and not necessarily for other countries….’’ (HR Book 1, p. 222)
“S.500 will do little or nothing to add to unemployment. We estimate that by the fifth year of operation only about 24,000 quota immigrants will have joined the labor force each year. At that time, we will have a labor force of 86 million. The newcomers will constitute three-thousandths of 1 percent of that group of workers we can expect that a good number of these immigrants will bring badly needed skills to this country.’’ (Senate Part 2, Book 1, p. 470)
“The administration bill favors nations of Latin America and North America . It favors nations of northern Europe .’’ (HR Book 1, p. 204)
“…this bill is but a step in the right direction. It is estimated that in the total 5-year period 679,663 of the 828,805 persons entering the United States will come from Europe .’’ (HR Book 2, p. 420)
Source of House of Representative (HR) quotes: Hearing Before Subcommittee No. 1, Committee of the Judiciary, House of Representatives, Eight-Ninth Congress, First Session on H.R. 2580
Joseph Fallon is a frequent contributor to The Social Contract.