ABOUT THE FUTURE

NEED FOR A CONTINUED REFUGEE PROGRAM

President Eisenhower's state of the Union message in 1956

When the President requested the adoption of amendments to the Refugee Relief Act, he said:

I am happy to report substantial progress in the flow of immigrants under the Refugee Relief Act of 1953; however, I again request this Congress to approve without further delay the urgently needed amendments to that act which I submitted in the last session. Because of the high prosperity in Germany and Austria, the number of immigrants from those countries will be reduced. This will make available thousands of unfilled openings which I recommend be distributed to Greece and Italy and to escapees from behind the Iron Curtain.

Our Nation has always welcomed immigrants to our shores. The wisdom of such a policy is clearly shown by the fact that America has been built by immigrants and the descendants of immigrants. That policy must be continued realistically with present-day conditions in mind.

Expressions of organizations, individuals, governments

If news stories from the press of the Nation, or the steady flow of letters to the various refugee and immigration voluntary welfare agencies and to Members of Congress are an indication, then there appears to be vast interest in a continuation of such a program as the Refugee Relief Act. Expressions of most indicate greatest concern for the displaced or stateless people who have fled their countries in fear of religious and political persecution.

For the record, we have included statements from various leaders of voluntary agencies and from prominent individuals:

American Friends Service Committee, Lewis M. Hoskins, executive secretary, testimony before Subcommittee on Immigration, Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, November 25, 1955:

The history of recent years has demonstrated how inadequate is dependence on emergency legislation to remove the obstruction the quota presents to programs of rescue when terror and persecution suddenly create thousands of refugees. * * * This is hardly in keeping with our proud history as a haven for the oppressed and obviously a new approach is required in order to bring our practice more into line with our announced policy of sharing and spreading the blessings of democracy. This applies not only in relation to the "energy" problem of refugees-which we are beginning to realize is not a temporary emergency, but a phenomenon of our times with which we are going to have to cope for years to come-but also in relation to providing our share of resettlement opportunities for persons in countries whose overpopulation is a threat to world peace and stability.

National Catholic Welfare Conference, resolution of administrative board of bishops, November 10, 1952:

The National Catholic Welfare Conference should seek immediate relief for the problem of refugees, escapees, and surplus populations of certain countries, preferably through an immediate change in the basic immigration law, or, if necessary, through emergency legislation.

Church World Service, National Council of Churches, letter to New York Times by Roland Elliott, director, immigration services, November 30, 1956:

Should peoples from other countries revolt against the tyranny of communism and flee to NATO countries within the continental limits of Europe, Turkey,

Sweden, Iran, or the Free Territory of Trieste, there would be no recourse to the Refugee Relief Act, since the numbers for this particular category have all been used up.

There are today hundreds of escapees coming out of Albania, Yugoslavia, and Bulgaria. They seek freedom. This movement is accelerated by the Hungarian exodus and to date has hardly been noted. They have fled from tyranny to refugee camps-and the journey ends. What is to happen to these stateless persons?

It seems clear that some emergency direction by the President is urgently needed pending action by Congress in January.

Methodist Board of Missions, resolution, 17th annual meeting, Buck Hill Falls, Pa., January 18, 1957:

Citing the "tragic plight" of Hungarian refugees, the board said the act must be revised

so that it will not be necessary for groups of refugees which we must expect in a world of revolution to be dependent upon emergency legislation.

We have also been reminded of the millions of refugees who have waited for resettlements for as long as 10 years

the resolution continued.

Gov. Orville Freeman, Minnesota, message to the National Committee on Immigration and Citizenship, April 9, 1956:

In these days of the cold war it is especially important for all American policies to forward the theme of human dignity and equality. As to the question of immigration, our heritage demands that respect for the individual be placed first. Such things as quota systems or petty discrimination because of color or national origin must be placed far down the line.

Gov. Frank J. Lausche, Ohio, message to the National Committee on Immigration and Citizenship, April 9, 1956:

There is no question that the immigrant citizen of the past and present has contributed greatly in the development of our country.

We have always given concern about the oppressed people of the world. Our shores have been a refuge to the victims of tyranny and brute force in government. While our ports cannot be opened to all who want to migrate to our country, we might as well recognize that we have set up barriers that are cruel, unmindful of the dignity of human beings, and substantially in discord with the principles that guided us in the past.

American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations, resolution of executive council, February 1, 1957:

The need to humanize and liberalize American immigration policy has been dramatized by the recent events in Hungary. The heroic struggles of the Hungarian people against Communist terror were met with immediate determination by freedom-loving peoples everywhere to do everything possible to provide a haven for those who were forced to flee from Hungary. President Eisenhower moved as quickly as the law allowed him to, and the American people supported him wholeheartedly.

Yet the sad fact remains that we have not been able to do enough. It has even been charged that the program of bringing in a mere 21,300 Hungarian refugees is of doubtful legality. Freedom-loving Americans feel ashamed that so little has been possible when the need has been so great. Our goal should be to provide a haven in the United States for no less than 100,000 Hungarian refugees. Already, evidence is impressive that these Hungarian refugees possess intellectual and industrial skills which will add further strength to America, just as other millions of immigrants throughout the years have enriched our country.

J. D. Zellerbach, president, Crown-Zellerbach Corp., testimony before President's Commission on Immigration and Naturalization, October 14, 1952:

The Western Hemisphere provides the greatest opportunity for resettlement of Europe's surplus populations. Other countries less able to absorb immigration than the United States are doing more to help the situation than we are. We

must work with them to do more than we have been doing, for, if we are to relieve the misery upon which communism flourishes, we must take an enlightened attitude toward the immigration problem. We must help our friends so they will not have to seek assistance from our enemies.

Comments by representatives of other governments included these: Dr. Bastiaan W. Haveman, Commissioner of Immigration, Ministry of Social Affairs, The Hague, in a statement during the ICEM Conference at Geneva, May 2, 1955, said:

In the third place comes the Refugee Relief Act program of the United States: 3,350 persons applied under this program in the first quarter. The Netherlands quota in this program is 17,000, and applications have already been received from about 10,000 Dutch people. Fresh applications are steadily flowing in, so that we are justified in concluding that this program can prove a great success so far as enthusiasm in the Netherlands is concerned. We are trying, together with the voluntary agencies and the United States administration, to solve in a close cooperation the problems which crop up in connection with this program. We must not omit a word of praise here for the voluntary agencies. We are as fully confident as the United States administration, that any problems which may still remain will be able to be solved. There is a very cordial collaboration between the services of both governments concerned.

Dr. J. A. U. M. Van Grevenstein, Director of the Immigration Service, The Hague, in a statement during the ICEM Conference in Geneva, April 9, 1957, he said:

That more than 15,600 visas had been issued under the United States Refugee Relief Act to cover movements from the Netherlands. His Government was grateful to the Government of the United States, the American authorities in the Netherlands, and the voluntary agencies for the success of the Refugee Relief Act program in the Netherlands.

INVESTIGATIVE PROCEDURES SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE

The extended effort made by IRP and CIC personnel in the accomplishment of the investigative mission is manifested in the estimate that approximately 200,000 hours of overtime activity were devoted to the proper completion of this responsibility during the course of the program-much of which was uncompensated and was voluntarily performed.

The only basic drawback in the accomplishment of the investigative mission was the legislative assumption that the host governments would be willing to cooperate closely with American authorities. Although in the main, host governments tended to be cooperative, such cooperation nevertheless was not as close nor as immediate as anticipated, since it involved in varying degrees modifications of the principles of national sovereignty.

As indicated herein, it is apparent that the Department of State has successfully implemented the vast investigation and security provisions of the unprecedented mandate extended to it by the Congress in sections 11 (a) and 11 (d) of the act, and as required by section 15 of the act, in section 212 (a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

During the course of the program: (a) 276,999 investigations of individuals applying for visas under the act were requested of IRP and the CIC, of which 250,960 were completed for the issuance of 190,235 visas; (b) 7,081 reconstructed history investigations were requested of which 6,175 were completed for the issuance of the major portion of that number of visas; and (c) 16,006 investigations were requested on visa applicants endorsed by the United States escapee

program, of which 14,154 were completed for the issuance of the major portion of that number of visas.

In the future, if the basic premise be accepted that immigration to the United States is not an inherent right of foreigners but a conferred privilege, then perhaps the resolution of problems which beset the refugee relief program will not be as difficult to resolve. Valuable experience has been gained and many lessons have been learned from the refugee program which should be taken into consideration in the future in connection with similar emergency immigration legislation as well as with regular immigration legislation. The following factors are deemed worthy of note and are set forth:

1. The comprehensive personal background investigations required by section 11 (a) of the act constituted a considerable change over previous methods of screening visa applicants. It is believed the procedure resulted in an improvement on internal security and national interests.

2. The investigative process provided more comprehensive and more accurate information than heretofore on aliens seeking admission into the United States, making possible more judicious adjudications by consular officers of the eligibility of aliens to receive visas and by immigration inspectors of their admissibility into the United States. Moreover, it provided the Immigration and Naturalization Service with far more comprehensive background information than it has ever had before on aliens legally admitted into the United States who subsequently require reinvestigation in connection with applications for United States citizenship.

3. The thorough investigations minimized any shadow of doubt concerning an alien newly arrived in the United States which might have affected him adversely in terms of employment related to United States national security or entering our Armed Forces.

4. Program investigations resolved substantial numbers of cases which because of conflicting or unresolved information could not otherwise have been adjudicated and in which visas could not otherwise have been issued.

5. The employment of trained American language and area specialists constituted a genuine improvement over the use of interpreters and specialized local personnel, however faithful and competent they may be.

6. Interview of applicants for visas by trained linguistic program investigators frequently clarified statements made by the applicants which might otherwise have been interpreted as misrepresentations under the law.

7. Program investigators, covering extensive geographic areas, established close rapport with intermediary and lower level representatives of foreign governments resulting in apparent betterment of United States interests.

8. The investigative process, once established, did not delay the overall visa issuing process.

9. The investigative process exposed criminal and otherwise undesirable elements which in turn tended to discourage such types of individuals from applying for visas.

10. By virtue of the extraordinary investigative measures and the exceptional procedures devised for the purpose of reconstituting those portions of the personal histories of recent escapees from Iron and

Bamboo Curtain countries, it was possible to issue visas to the majority of 6,175 escapee applicants who could not otherwise have qualified under the act. By this means, the Department of State implemented the expressed intent of the Congress with respect to recent refugees, escapees, and expellees in spite of the exclusion manifested in section 11 (d) of the act, which otherwise would have been effective.

11. Approximately 1.25 investigations were required for each visa issued.

12. Numerous consular officers and immigration inspectors expressed their complete satisfaction with the results of the investigations since it enabled such officers to carry out their responsibilities more effectively.

13. Deportation had been instituted against only one alien who had received a visa under the act by its termination date, December 31, 1956.

14. The investigative procedures developed and instituted in the implementation of the act appeared to be more costly than those normally used in the regular visa issuing program; they were not as costly, however, as originally anticipated and the investment was justified in potential savings of expenditures which would otherwise have been necessary.

15. The stream of immigrants is not pure but is infiltrated with persons who have or are engaged in Communist and intelligence activities in varying degrees or whose presence in the United States is otherwise undesirable.

16. Various intelligence services planted intelligence agents among aliens applying for visas under the Refugee Relief Act with assignments to be carried out in the United States.

17. The threat to the internal security of the United States posed by elements within the stream of refugees and other immigrants requires that thorough investigations be conducted abroad and all inquiries possible be completed prior to granting an alien admission to this

country.

18. Pursuant to section 105 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 18,737 or approximately 17.5 percent of the 107,888 investigative reports which were reviewed at the Department of State were considered to contain information of official interest to other agencies and copies of such reports were disseminated to them.

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It is beyond the realm of reason to attempt to reduce the preserva tion of the internal security to pecuniary considerations. The Congress in legislating the Refugee Relief Act, however, did give due consideration to the value to the national interest and to the implementation of United States immigration policy of thoroughly investigating each alien applicant for a visa. Moreover, the Congress visualized that expenditures in this regard would be a sound investment in benefits to the United States to be derived therefrom in terms of excluding undesirables and subversive elements as specified by the Immigration and Nationality Act. It is estimated that the investigative costs would in time be cancelled by the cost of deportations which might otherwise have been necessary had the thorough investigations not been conducted prior to the visa issuance. Therefore, actual investigative program experience seems unquestionably to have justified the legislative intent since, although the cost of the in