Letter from Samuel Dickstein to President Harry S. Truman

FILED BY MR. HOPKINS Supreme Court of the JUL 9 1952 State of Nem York 133 HR5678 con JUSTICES CHAMBERS NEW YORK COUNTY COURT house NEW YORK 7, N.Y. SAMUEL DICKSTEIN JUSTICE June 11, 1952. Hon. Harry S. Truman The White House TRUMAN Washington, D.C. NATIONAL ARCHIVES SERVICE Dear Mr. President, GOVERNMENT Although it is not a habit with me to comment on pending legislation I am obliged to make an exception in the case of the McCarran immigration bill which will shortly come before you. I take this opportunity to call your at- tention to a few of its provisions which in my opinion make it grossly unfair and justify a veto on your part. My service of many years on the Committee of Immigration of the House of Representatives, of which committee I laterbecame the chairman, makes an expression of opinion on my part a necessity. The present immigration quota system is wiped out in its entirety. While the total number of quotas is slightly increased, nevertheless one-half of the allotted quotas is removed from practical importance, in that this one-half can be used merely to permit the admission of highly skilled valu- able individuals, if there be none such there will be no use made of this one-half, so instead of increasing such quotas they are practically cut by one-half. Under the bill all quotas which have been used under the Displaced Persons Act are now chargeable to the regular quotas of each nationality. The New York Times estimates that under this set-up no one could be admitted from Latvia until 2274; from Estonia until 2146; from Greece until 2013; from Hungary until 1985; from Lithuania until 2087; from Poland until 1999; from Rumania until 2004. The present provisions allowing legalization of illegally admitted aliens if they have lived here prior to 1941 and have depending upon them American wives or minor children are done away with. Under the new law they will have to have lived here at least five years and will have to be absolutely necessary for the economic well-being of the American wife or child. The appropriate provision