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Excerpt from Message to the House of Representatives on the Veto of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952

Presented on June 25, 1952

The president vetoes an immigration bill that would limit the number of immigrants from outside northern Europe

"This idea behind this discriminatory policy was, to put it baldly, that Americans with English or Irish names were better people and better citizens than Americans with Italian or Greek or Polish names…. Such a concept is utterly unworthy of our traditions and our ideals."

In 1952 a debate broke out on the future immigration policy of the United States. On one side were politicians like U.S. senator Patrick McCarran (1876–1954) of Nevada and U.S. representative Francis Walter (1894–1963) of Pennsylvania. McCarran and Walter wanted to continue to impose quotas, or limits, on immigration from different countries in a...