A hang-over from the First Red Scare this country has never recovered from, with the same invective against immigrants and the promotion of a mythical, and white, Americanism as today.

‘The Crusade Against the Foreign-Born’ by Alexander Bittelman from The Liberator. Vol. 7 No. 5. May, 1924.

THE peculiar and significant feature of all the restrictive immigration bills now before Congress is that they merely aim at excluding a certain type of immigrants, which is an entirely different matter from restricting immigration in general. The latter is not what the masters of the American government want. They do want immigrants, but only of a certain kind. And our lawmakers in Washington are obligingly coming to the rescue.

Another feature of some of these bills, and perhaps the most vicious, is the attempt to place virtually in the position of criminals all the foreign-born workers of the United States. Most of the anti-immigration bills so far submitted to Congress carry provisions which, when ratified, would mean nothing less than a strict and merciless police supervision over the doings and the very lives of millions of immigrant workers employed in American industries.

The purpose is obvious. By classifying, sifting, selecting and excluding from admission into the United States so-called undesirables, a virtual cordon will be established against all prospective immigrants that are infected with unionism, anti-capitalism and a will to fight in the cause of labor. Only from this angle can we explain the provision in the Johnson bill passed by the House of Representatives that the “quota” of immigrants to be admitted annually from each country is to be determined on the basis of the United States Census of 1890.

A simple device. The census of 1890 happens to show a comparatively smaller number of residents in the United States born in the countries of southern and eastern Europe. If we compute the “quota” on the basis of the census of 1890, we get a comparatively small number of immigrants to be admitted annually from these countries, which means, less Italians, less Russians, less Poles, less Roumanians and less workers of all the other countries that are located in the “turbulent” sections of the European continent.

So, there you are. We restrict immigration from the countries of southern and eastern Europe, because, beware, the workingman coming to our shores from those sections may join a labor union, may prove a brave fighter for higher wages and shorter hours, may also fight for a Labor Party and God save us!–may even become Communist. Naturally, this cannot be permitted, not if the American capitalists can help it. Hence, the deluge of anti-immigration bills engulfing the noble seat of our federal legislative bodies.

The purpose is clear. It is to save–not America–but the capitalists of America from the troublesome and annoying kind of labor immigrants that may desire to come here from abroad and settle in our midst. This purpose is not always kept concealed. Once in a while one of the sworn defenders of our institutions (read: capitalism) would explode and tell us something about the “inside dope” of the new crusade against the working class of America. And then we learn that:

“According to the Secretary of Labor the immigration figures indicate that the workers who have been able to secure admission under our laws are not the kind the employer says he needs (our emphasis). But we do know this: that among those who have entered our country are immigrants whose mental, moral, and physical make-up constitute a menace to the political, economic and social life of the republic.”

Plain enough, isn’t it? The situation is not satisfactory because the employers are not getting the kind of labor they want. This, according to the Secretary of Labor, whose “competent” opinion was made known to the world by Representative Vestal of Indiana in a debate on the Johnson bill in the House of Representatives on April 8th.

This worthy spokesman of the “people” of Indiana, who seems to know very well what the employers want but is hardly interested in what labor wants, is even more outspoken: In the same debate he gave vent to something like this:

“There is no reasonable objection in compelling aliens to register once a year. We know that individuals in this country are preaching the cause of Soviet Russia. We know that individuals on trial for plots to overthrow the government have not hesitated to preach the gospel of Communism rather than the stability and prosperity of American representative government.”

No reasonable objection, indeed, to compel aliens to register once a year; photograph them, finger-print them, hold over their heads the constant threat of deportation, and drive the fear of God into their hearts so that they will respect and venerate the stability and prosperity of Teapot Dome representative government.

Fine scheme! Excellent scheme! Only it wouldn’t work very well. Not always, anyway. American labor is bound to realize, despite even Sam Gompers, that the very existence of the labor movement is being threatened by this new crusade against immigration of a kind and against foreign born workers.

Let these bills become law. And what will happen? The courage and fighting ability of the foreign-born workers is bound to give way–temporarily at least–under the terrific weight of these proposed persecutions. Trade unions will be weakened. Strikes more easily broken and defeated. The open shop will march in triumphantly and will take possession, brutally and unscrupulously, of everything that the American worker succeeded in wrestling from the greedy hand of his exploiters.

More than that. The native American worker will stand completely isolated. Yes, and separated from all friends and all supporters. If these vicious bills are made law and put into effect this is what’s bound to happen. The resistance of the foreign-born workers against the employers will decrease considerably. These workers will dare much less than they do now. And the native American worker will then have to meet the full brunt of the capitalist attack almost single-handed.

Surprising, how old man Sam can’t see any of these things coming. He has such a long vision, hasn’t he? He could see, for instance, that recognition of Soviet Russia by the United States government would mean the ruination of America. He can also see that independent political action and the formation of a farmer-labor party would mean the end of the American Federation of Labor. He sees many things but not this: that the pernicious campaign against foreign-born workers is aimed directly at the American labor movement.

Sam Gompers favors the Johnson bill. He has even appealed to all affiliated unions of the A.F. of L. to support this bill. Why? Is it because this bill, if it becomes law, will enable the American capitalists better to fight the American workers?

Just examine it.

Section 23 reads: “In any proceeding under the immigration laws the burden of proving the right of any individual to enter or remain in the United States shall, as between him and the United States, be upon such individual.” This section means that we place into the hands of government officials (read: servants of capital) unlimited powers in deciding what kind of immigrant may or may not enter or reside in the United States.

Section 4e provides for the admission of skilled labor on a non-“quota” basis. And it says: “The question of the necessity of importing such skilled labor in any particular instance shall be determined by the Secretary (of Labor) upon the written application of any person interested.”

Now, persons interested in the importation of labor are employers of labor or their agents. These employers will apply to the Secretary of Labor for permission to import skilled labor, and the Secretary will render his decision. And what will that be? Whatever the employers may need “in any particular instance.” Can his decision be anything else?

And yet, Sam Gompers finds it possible to support the Johnson bill. Is he blind, indifferent, or both? Or is he a quite sharp-sighted agent of the employers?

It may be well to emphasize again that the prime requisite for the success of the American labor movement is a strong bond of unity and solidarity between the workers of this country–native and foreign born. Once this bond is weakened or destroyed, the American working class will find itself completely at the mercy of its masters. The Johnson bill and all the other measures against certain kinds of immigrants and against the foreign-born desire nothing else but the destruction of this bond of unity between the native-born and foreign-born American worker. No struggle, therefore, is wasted in the effort to prevent this from happening.

The Liberator was published monthly from 1918, first established by Max Eastman and his sister Crystal Eastman continuing The Masses, was shut down by the US Government during World War One. Like The Masses, The Liberator contained some of the best radical journalism of its, or any, day. It combined political coverage with the arts, culture, and a commitment to revolutionary politics. Increasingly, The Liberator oriented to the Communist movement and by late 1922 was a de facto publication of the Party. In 1924, The Liberator merged with Labor Herald and Soviet Russia Pictorial into Workers Monthly. An essential magazine of the US left.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/culture/pubs/liberator/1924/05/v7n05-w73-may-1924-liberator-hr.pdf