Memorandum, Summary of Humphrey-Lehman Draft Bill

Summary of Humphry-lehna - draft 6.4 DRAFT Summary of Revised Omnibus Immigration and Naturalization Bill The revised omnibus immigration and naturalization bill would modernize the quota system by basing quotas on the 1950 census, would provide greater flexibility in the operation of the quota system by al- lowing the pooling of unused quotas, and would eliminate racial discrimination. It would admit to this country additional classes of deserving aliens with- out regard to quota restrictions and would establish a system of prefer- ences based on national need and family reunion for most quota immi- grants while at the same time reserving a portion of each quota for self- initiated immigration. The revised bill would assure adequate review of denial of visas and denial of admission to this country and would make the McCarran-Walter Administrative Procedure Act applicable to deporta- tion cases. It would provide adequate protection against subversive and other undesirable aliens without resorting to abusive and repressive re- strictions. In these provisions and in other matters of substance the revised bill differs from s. 2550, recently reported by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The two bills correspond in general form and in many technical changes that would be made in existing immigration and naturalization laws. The following summary of the major provisions of the revised bill em- phasizes the principal changes that would be made in existing laws and the most important differences between the revised bill and S. 2550. 1. Non-quota status: The revised bill would add several new classes of non-quota immigrants to those of existing laws. Recognizing the desira- bility of reuniting families, the bill would exempt the immigrant parents of citizens from quota limitations. Other classes deserving special con- sideration to which non-quota status would be accorded are orphans enter- ing the country for adoption and immigrants who have served honorably in the armed forces. Existing laws grant non-quota status to immigrants born in Canada or in independent countries in Latin America but deny such status to immigrants born in colonies or dependent areas in the Western Hemisphere. The revised bill would correct this obvious inequity. S. 2550 would make none of these improvements in existing laws. Furthermore, S. 2550 would require professors, who are now admitted as non-quota im- migrants, to enter under quota restrictions. The revised bill would retain the provisions of existing law in this respect. RUMAR is NARA