Letter from H. L. Mitchell, President of the National Farm Labor Union, to President Harry S. Truman

Filed by me stowe 7-18-52 'y NATIONAL FARM LABOR UNION AFFILIATED AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR 825 Victor Building 726 9th Street, N. W. WASHINGTON 1, D. C. 21 467-D Phone: REpublic 6613 July 3, 1951. 5.984 misc President Harry S. Truman con White House Washington, D.C. Dear Mr. President: We urgently request that you veto the Ellender-Poage Mexican Farm Labor Importation Bill which was adopted by Congress on June 30. It is contrary to the recommendations made by your Commission's - Report on Migratory Labor in Americanagriculture and it discriminates against American citizens engaged in farm work. The measure is sectional and will benefit only a small number of large-scale farm operators and food processors in the southwestern States by supplying them with cheap labor. The provision adopted in the Senate to penalize employers of wetbacks was stricken from the measures finally adopted, and the substitute permitting the employment of illegal aliens from Mexico, who have been in the United States five years, is meaningless and encour- ages violations of our immigration laws. We also object to the exemption of imported workers from the payment of social security and income taxes, which all other workers employed in the United States must pay. The $15 assessed employers for each worker imported will not cover cost of transportation to and from points in the interior of Mexico with substitence enroute to and from border reception centers and the cost of maintaining such workers while awaiting employment and then transportation to their homes at the end of the period of employment. In our opinion this bill is a thinly disguised subsidy for a small number of large-scale farm operators and food processors, who will be supplied with cheap labor to further reduce the living standards of American citizens. We, therefore, urge you to veto this labor importation bill. Sincerely yours, c H. L. mitchell COMPANY H. L. Mitchell, President. HLM:Coeiu#2.