re: #20 Gus 802

From Jewish Involvement in Shaping American Immigration Policy, 1881-1965: A Historical Review

The perception that Jewish concerns were an important feature of the opposition to the McCarran- Walter act can also be seen in the following exchange between Representative Celler and Representative Walter. Celler noted that “The national origin theory upon which our immigration law is based … [mocks] our protestations based on a question of equality of opportunity for all peoples, regardless of race, color, or creed.” Representative Walter replied that “a great menace to America lies in the fact that so many professionals, including professional Jews, are shedding crocodile tears for no reason whatsoever” (Cong. Rec. Jan. 13, 1953, p. 372). And in a comment referring to the peculiarities of Jewish interests in immigration legislation, Richard Arens, Staff Director of the Senate subcommittee that produced the McCarran-Walter act, pointedly noted that “one of the curious things about those who most loudly claim that the 1952 act is ‘discriminatory’ and that it does not make allowance for a sufficient number of alleged refugees, is that they oppose admission of any of the approximately one million Arab refugees in camps where they are living in pitiful circumstances after having been driven out of Israel” (in Bennett, 1963, p. 181).