IMMIGRATION: Irish Experiment

Three officials went abroad last week. One was from the State Department, one from the Department of Labor, one from the Public Health Service.

They sailed for Ireland. They went to set up, in the U. S. consulates of the Irish Free State, immigration inspection stations where full inspection, including medical examination, will be given before immigrant visas are issued.

This is a preliminary action. It is another step in moving our immigration stations from the point of reception to the point of inception. The hardships of Ellis Island and other stations where immigrants are frequently detained for prolonged periods and then deported, are to be done away with.

The law passed a year ago (TiME, Oct. 18, 1923, Feb. 25, Apr. 21, 1924 et seq.) established a system of granting immigrant visas abroad so that no more immigrants would be turned back after reaching this country because they were in excess of quota. By moving all the other inspections to the source, the aim is to avoid the necessity of sending any immigrants back after they arrive on our shores

Some foreign countries have been very chilly to this last proposition. They have disliked the idea of so much U. S. machinery being set up within their borders. The experiment is to be tried first on the Irish (who do not object) in order to remove the prejudice of other countries by showing how harmless the system is.