Letter from Robert F. Wagner, Jr. to President Harry S. Truman

FILED BY MR. HOPKINS JUL 9 1952 PRESIDENT OF THE BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN CITY OF NEW YORK 1664 NEW YORK 7, N.Y. ROBERT F. WAGNER, JR. PRESIDENT JUN 18 1952 1052 THE WHITE HOUSE 133 HR5698 con JUN 19 7 55 AM '52 w RECEIVED Hon. Harry S. Truman President of the United States White House TREBAN Washington, D.C. HARMY 1887 NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS Dear Mr. President: SERVICE U.S. GOVERN I write to urge you to veto the McCarran-Walter Omnibus Immigration Bill passed by the Senate and House last week. This legislation is contrary to the liberal tradition and leadership which you have strengthened and maintained in our Nation over the past seven years. A study of this bill has convinced me that it is a restric- tive measure, contrary to the philosophy of liberalized immigration which has made our country great. I need not dwell on the obvious fact that it is the immi grants who have come to our shores over the past 150 years whose strength and courage have made the United States the strongest, wealthiest, and freest nation in the world. In addition to our self-interest in bringing to our shores the man power which will continue to give us strength, we have another very important self- interest in a liberalized immigration policy. Today the United States is engaged in a fierce fight to pre- serve democracy and freedom against communist aggression and totalitarianism. If our immigration policy is one of restriction, selective in its nature, creating addi- tional grounds for exclusion, it is a direct slap in the face at the many friendly countries outside the "iron curtain" with whom we are allied. In a certain sense we are creating a "curtain" of our own by this type of legislation, which can do nothing but harm for us in our international relationships. There is a third reason of pure humanitarianism, upon which America has always prided itself, in eval- uating the need for a liberalized immigration policy.