as the Administrator may, in his discretion, prescribe for the administration of the Act, including job order clearances by the United States Employment Service and its affiliated State employment services, and a certification by local housing authorities wherever they exist and are authorized and prepared to make such certifications.

(b) Any alien admitted under this Act and subsequently determined to have been inadmissible under the provisions of this Act at the time of entry shall, irrespective of the date of his entry, be taken into custody and deported in the manner provided by sections 242 and 243 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (66 Stat. 208-214).

(c) Assistance rendered an alien in connection with his transportation to and resettlement in the United States shall not be regarded as a cause for excludability as an alien likely to become a public charge. No alien with respect to whom assurances have been furnished as provided in this section shall be deemed to be a pauper under paragraph (8) of section 212 (a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (66 Stat. 182).

(d) No alien shall be issued a visa under this Act or be admitted into the United States unless he shall present to the consular officer at the time of making application for a visa or to the immigration officer at the time of application for admission (1) a valid unexpired passport or other suitable travel document, or document of identity or nationality, or other documentary evidence that he will be assured of readmission to the country of his nationality, foreign residence or in which he obtains a visa under this Act and (2) a certificate of readmission guaranteeing his readmission to the country in which he obtains a visa under this Act if it is subsequently found that he obtained a visa under this Act by fraud or by misrepresenting a material fact.

INTERGOVERNMENTAL ARRANGEMENTS

SEC. 8. The Secretary of State may, for the purposes of this Act, make such arrangements with foreign governments and with the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration as are necessary and appropriate for the purpose of financing the overseas transportation of persons who may be issued visas under this Act, such arrangements to be mutually beneficial to the economies of the United States and the countries concerned, as well as to such persons. Such arrangements, where appropriate, may seck to enable immigrants under this Act to transfer into dollar currency personal assets necessary for defraying the cost of transportation and for use in the United States. Arrangements between the United States and the other governments concerned and the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration should also provide for such cooperation and assistance as may be required in the administration of the program authorized under this Act in the territory of the intending immigrant's residence. All transportation by ships or airplanes of aliens under this Act to the United States, the cost of which is defrayed in whole or in part by the Government of the United States, shall be by ships or airplanes registered under the United States flag, if available.

SEC. 9. Within the categories established in section 4 of this Act the determination of the eligibility of persons to receive visas and of the admissibility of such persons into the United States under this Act shall be made without discrimination in favor of or against a race, religion, or the national origin of such persons.

EXEMPTIONS FROM VISA FEES

SEC. 10. Persons receiving visas under this Act shall be exempt from paying the fees prescribed in paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 281 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (66 Stat. 230-231).

SECURITY AND OTHER INVESTIGATION; EFFECT OF MISREPRESENTATION SEC. 11. (a) No alien shall be issued a visa under this Act or be admitted into the United States unless there shall have first been a thorough investigation and written report made and prepared by such investigative agency or agencies of the Government of the United States as the President shall designate, regarding such person's character, reputation, mental and physical health, history and eligibility under this Act, and such investigations in each case shall be conducted in a manner and in such time as the investigative agency or agencies shall determine to be necessary.

(b) No person shall be issued a visa or be admitted into the United States under this Act if the consular officer or the immigration officer knows or has reason to believe that such person is ineligible for a visa or is subject to exclusion from the United States under any provision of the immigration laws or is not eligible under the terms of this Act. (c) No person shall be issued a visa or be admitted into the United States under this Act unless the consular officer and the immigration officer, after an inspection and examination of such person abroad, are entirely satisfied upon the basis of affirmative evidence adduced by the applicant that the applicant has established his eligibility for a visa and his admissibility into the United States under this Act and under the immigration laws and regulations: Provided, That no person to whom a visa shall be issued shall be exempt from inspection and examination at a port of entry.

(d) No person shall be issued a visa under this Act or be admitted into the United States unless complete information shall be available regarding the history of such person covering a period of at least two years immediately preceding his application for a visa: Provided, That this provision may be waived on the recommendation of the Secretaries of State and Defense when determined by them to be in the national interest.

(e) Any person who shall make a material misrepresentation to any agency of the Government entrusted directly or indirectly with the administration, investigation, enforcement, or any other function relating to the implementation of this Act, for the purpose of gaining admission into the United States as an alien eligible hereunder, shall

be excluded from admission into the United States under section 212 (a) (19) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (66 Stat. 183).

PRIORITIES

SEC. 12. Priorities in the consideration of visa applications under this Act, except in the case of applications filed under paragraph (6), (8) or (10) of section 4 (a), without priority in time of issuance of visas as between such priorities or as between priority and nonpriority cases under this Act shall be given to

(1) Persons whose services or skills are needed in the United States, if such need has been certified to the Administrator, at his request, by the United States Employment Service and who are to be employed in a capacity calling for such services or such skills; and

(2) Persons who are (A) the parents of citizens of the United States, such citizens being at least twenty-one years of age, or (B) spouses or unmarried sons or daughters under twenty-one years of age, including stepsons or stepdaughters and sons or daughters adopted prior to July 1, 1953, of aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence, or (C) brothers, sisters, sons or daughters of citizens of the United States.

SEC. 13. No priority in the consideration of visa applications under this Act shall be given to persons who were determined to be eligible or preliminarily eligible under the provisions of section (2) (c) of Public Law 774, Eightieth Congress, as amended,' solely because such persons were determined to be so eligible or preliminarily eligible.

PERSONS INELIGIBLE; OATH ON ADMISSION; PENALTIES

SEC. 14. (a) No visa shall be issued under this Act to any person who personally advocated or assisted in the persecution of any person or group of persons because of race, religion, or national origin.

(b) Before being issued a visa every alien eighteen years of age or older, authorized to be admitted under this Act, shall take and subscribe an oath or affirmation that he is not and never has been a person specified in subparagraph (A), (B), (C), (D), (E), (F), (G), or (H) of section 212 (a) (28) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (66 Stat. 184-186), except as provided in subparagraph (I) of such section, and shall be liable to prosecution for perjury if such oath or affirmation is willfully false. If any alien not entitled to be issued a visa under this Act and not entitled to be admitted into the United States shall nevertheless gain admission, such alien shall, regardless of the date of his entry, be taken into custody and deported in the manner provided in sections 242 and 243 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (66 Stat. 208-214).

(c) Any person or persons who shall knowingly violate, conspire to violate, induce or attempt to induce any person to violate any provision of this Act shall be guilty of a felony, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not more than $10,000 or shall be imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.

1 PL 774, 80th Cong., 2d sess., June 25, 1948; 62 Stat. 1009.

APPLICABILITY OF IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT

SEC. 15. Except as otherwise expressly provided by this Act all of the provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act (66 Stat. 163) shall be applicable under this Act.

LOANS

SEC. 16. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized and directed to make loans not to exceed $5,000,000 in the aggregate, to public or private agencies of the United States for the purpose of financing the transportation from ports of entry within the United States to the places of their resettlement, of persons receiving immigrant visas under this Act, and who lack resources to finance the expenses involved. Such loans, which shall mature not later than June 30, 1963, shall be made under rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to this Act: Provided, That such loans shall bear interest at a rate of 3 per centum per annum on the unpaid balance from their maturity date until final payment. No public or private agency shall be eligible to receive a loan under the provisions of this Act while such agency is in default in the payment of any loan made to it pursuant to the provisions of the Displaced Persons Act of 1948, as amended.1

ELIGIBLE ALIENS TO BE NONQUOTA IMMIGRANTS

SEC. 17. Any alien granted a visa under this Act shall be deemed a nonquota immigrant for the purposes of the Immigration and Nationality Act (66 Stat. 163).

AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS

SEC. 18. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such funds be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act.

as may

REPORTS

SEC. 19. The Administrator shall report to the President and the Congress on the operation of the program established under this Act on or about January 15 and June 15 of each year and shall submit a final report not later than June 15, 1957. Such reports shall include full and complete details regarding the administration of the Act and the administration of the funds provided for in section 16 of this Act.

TERMINATION

SEC. 20. No immigrant visa shall be issued under this Act after December 31, 1956.

1 Ibid.

11. REPORT ON THE STATUS OF THE REFUGEE RELIEF PROGRAM, DECEMBER 31, 1955 (Excerpt), With Chart1

PART I-PROGRESS REPORT

GENERAL STATEMENT

More than two-thirds of the life of the Refugee Relief Act of 1953, as amended,2 has run its course. The original legislation was enacted by the Congress on August 7, 1953, with a specified termination date of December 31, 1956.

Of the 209,000 nonquota immigrant visas allocated by the Congress for issuance under the Refugee Relief Act of 1953, as amended, 73,331 visas have been issued worldwide as of December 31, 1955. Of this total, 77 percent were issued during 1955 and 49 percent from July 1, 1955, to January 1, 1956. Visas were refused or canceled on an additional 21,997 applicants. More than 107,000 applications are currently under active consideration. These pending applications probably will yield some 77,000 visas if the present rejection and cancellation rates continue. Procedures have been streamlined and paperwork cut considerably. There has been a substantial reduction in the period between the time an assurance is received by the Office of the Administrator in Washington and the time a final visa determination is made by the appropriate American consular authority abroad. Security requirements have been held at the level deemed necessary by the proper authorities to protect the best interests of the United States. Insofar as the factors are under the control of the Government, the program is prepared to issue as many visas as possible in each of the categories and in the areas authorized.

The refugee relief program is not a single program but a composite of different programs for diverse beneficiaries in various areas. Program prospects and status, therefore, are better viewed in the light of the various categories of beneficiaries in each area. Certain individual visa allocations will be, or have already been, reached. On the other hand, it is doubtful if allotments in other categories will be met. It is evident that, under existing circumstances, and barring unforeseen changes, considerably less than the authorized 209,000 nonquota immigrant visas will be issued by the termination of the refugee relief program on December 31, 1956. The graphic presentation given here (fig. I) illustrates this fact. Figure I shows the current status of the program by section of the act in terms of visas already issued plus the potential yield from pending applications and shows quite vividly the extent to which additional assurances would be required for the issuance of the full allotment of visas.

1Fifth Semiannual Report of the Administrator of the Refugee Relief Act of 1953, As Amended (House Judiciary Committee print), Mar. 6, 1956.

2 Supra.