Letter from William Green, President of the American Federation of Labor, to President Harry S. Truman

filed by me store 7-18-52 REDERATION AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR Executive Council President, WILLIAM GREEN Secretary-Treasurer, GEORGE MEANY A. F. of L. Building, Washington, D. c. First Vice President, WILLIAM L. HUTCHESON, Seventh Vice President, W. c. DOHERTY, Carpenters' Bldg., Indianapolis, Ind. 1525 H St., N. W., Washington, D. c. Second Vice President, MATTHEW WOLL, Eighth Vice President, DAVID DUBINSKY, 570 Lexington Ave., New York, N. Y. 1710 Broadway, New York, N. Y. Third Vice President. GEO. M. HARRISON, Ninth Vice President, Cnarles J. MACGOWAN, Railway Clerks' Bldg., Cincinnati, o. 504 Brotherhood Bldg., Kansas City, Kans. Fourth Vice President, DANIEL J. TOBIN, Tenth Vice President, HERMAN WINTER, 222 East Michigan St., Indianapolis, Ind. 2719 N. Wilton Ave., Orgid Nov. 15 1881 Fifth Vice President, HARRY C. BATES, Eleventh 815 Fifteenth St., N. W., Washington, D. C. 1200 Fifteenth Vice President, St., N. D. W., "w. D. HOUSE Sixth Vice President, W. C. BIRTHRIGHT, Tweifth Vice President, WILLIAM L. McFETRIDGE Delaware at Twelfth Street, Indianapolis, Ind. 318 W. Randolph III. Thirteenth Vice President, JAMES C. PETRILLO, LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONE NATIONAL 3870-1-2-3-4 570 Lexington Avenue, New York 22, N. Y. CABLE ADDRESS AFEL. HCTD Washington 1, D. C. RECEIVED 5. 984 misc cow July 3, 1951 A Honorable Harry S. Truman President of the United States The White House Washington, D. C. My dear Mr. President: The American Federation of Labor requests that you veto the Mexican labor importation bill passed by Congress on June 30th. It certainly goes far afield from the findings and recommendations of your Commission on Migratory Labor. This legislation discriminates against American workers employed in large scale agriculture and provides no means of setting standards of wages or working con- 1 ditions for our own citizens. As adopted by the Senate, the bill contained a provision penalizing employers who hire illegal aliens from Mexico. This was stricken from the measure as finally passed. In our opinion, the legalization of Mexican wet- 2 backs who have allegedly been in the United States for five years is meaningless, in that it will be almost impossible to determine when such persons came into the country in violation of our immigration laws. We object strongly to the provision permitting the employment of imported Mexican nationals in the food processing plants of the United States. The majority of such workers are now organized into our unions and have 3 established excellent wage scales and working conditions in the industry. The employment of Mexican nationals in this industry will be a. threat to our labor standards. The exemption of Mexican nationals employed in the United States from the payment of income and social