Refugee Relief Act

Refugee Relief Act

Other short titles	Special Migration Act of 1953
Long title	An Act for the relief of certain refugees, and orphans, and for other purposes.
Nicknames	Refugee Relief Act of 1953
Enacted by	the 83rd United States Congress
Effective	August 7, 1953
Citations
Public law	83-203
Statutes at Large	67 Stat. 400
Codification
Titles amended	8 U.S.C.: Aliens and Nationality
U.S.C. sections amended	8 U.S.C. ch. 12, subch. I §§ 1101 & 1104 8 U.S.C. ch. 12, subch. II §§ 1153, 1182, 1252, 1253, 1351
Legislative history
Introduced in the House as H.R. 6481 by Louis E. Graham (R–PA) on July 27, 1953 Committee consideration by House Judiciary Passed the House on July 28, 1953 (221-185) Passed the Senate on July 29, 1953 (63-30) Reported by the joint conference committee on July 29, 1953; agreed to by the House on July 31, 1953 (Agreed) and by the Senate on August 1, 1953 (Agreed) Signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on August 7, 1953

The Refugee Relief Act of 1953 was an act of legislation passed by the 83rd United States Congress. It was the United States's second refugee admissions and resettlement law, following the Displaced Persons Act of 1948, which expired at the end of 1952. It resulted in the admission of 214,000 immigrants to the United States, including 60,000 Italians, 17,000 Greeks, 17,000 Dutch and 45,000 immigrants from communist countries. The act expired in 1956.

Initially, the bill was called the Emergency Migration Act and intended as a response to President Dwight D. Eisenhower's request for emergency legislation to admit more immigrants from Southern Europe, who were excluded according to the quotas of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (the "McCarran-Walter Act").

The bill was renamed by Senator McCarran, and a number of provisions were added with the effect of complicating the determination of eligibility of applicants. Applicants were required to undergo a thorough security screening, including a verifiable history of their activities for two years prior to application.

The bill passed the House of Representatives with a 221-185, with the support of a majority of Democrats and an even split among Republicans. The United States Senate passed the bill on a voice vote, with Senator McCarran opposed. The act was signed into law by President Eisenhower on August 7, 1953.

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