| Predecessor | National Council for the Protection of the Foreign Born |
|---|---|
| Merged into | National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee |
| Formation | 1933 |
| Merger of | 1982 |
| Purpose | Defend rights of foreign born, especially radicals and Communist Party members |
| Headquarters | New York City |
| Services | Litigation, legislation, public education |
National chairman (1942) | Hugh De Lacy |
Executive Secretary (1933-1939) | Dwight C. Morgan |
Key people | Carol Weiss King (1942-1952) |
| Affiliations | International Labor Defense, International Juridical Association |
American Committee for the Protection of Foreign Born was the successor group to the National Council for the Protection of the Foreign Born and its successor, seen by the US federal government as subversive for "protecting foreign Communists who come to this country," thus "enabling them to operate here.".[1][2][3][4][5]
By 1922, groups to defend foreign born communists began to emerge locally, but a National Council for Protection of Foreign Born did not form until May 1926.[4][6]
In 1933, Roger Nash Baldwin of the American Civil Liberties Union formed the American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born. The committee sought to defend rights of foreign born, especially radicals and Communist Party members, who went otherwise legally undefended. It pursued three avenues: litigation, legislation, and public education.[3][4]
The US federal government determined that the committee worked closely with the International Labor Defense, legal arm of the Communist Party USA, in turn an arm of the Soviet-formed Communist International and thus supported Party (Soviet) policies.[1]
In the 1930s, the committee campaigned for asylum rights for refugees of European fascism who faced deportation. After the start of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, the committee protected fighters against Francisco Franco who could not (re-)enter the United States legally, e.g., American members of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.[1][3][4]
During World War II, the committee joined the Popular Front in promoting national unity against fascism. It helped Japanese-Americans after internment. It successfully defended CPUSA leader William Schneiderman against cancelation of his naturalization due to communist memberships. It defended Australian-born labor leader Harry Bridges.[3]
During the early Cold War, the US federal government increased its efforts to deport foreign born trade unionists and Communists; it also attacked the committee itself. In June 1948, Attorney General Tom C. Clark added the committee to a Justice Department list of "subversive" organizations. The McCarran Internal Security Act of 1950 and the McCarran-Walter Immigration Act of 1952 targeted foreign born Communist Party members. In 1950, Attorney General Herbert Brownell Jr. asked the Subversive Activities Control Board to make the committee register as a Communist front. In 1951, executive secretary, Abner Green went to imprisoned for six months for refusing to submit names of contributors. In January 1952, Carol Weiss King, general counsel, died.[3][4][7]
From 1955 to 1957, the committee faced a charge of violating charitable laws. In 1957, a New York State Supreme Court ex parte injunction stopped the committee from all activities. The committee reformed as a charitable organization. Although also in 1957, the United States Supreme Court reversed deportation of Charles Rowoldt based on membership in the Communist Party, the committee gave up direct legal defense of foreign born to focus on public opinion and legislation, e.g., revision or repeal of the McCarran-Walter Act.[3][4]
In the 1960s, the committee focused on discrimination against Mexican immigrants and West Indian workers. It campaigned to establish a statute of limitation, to eliminate supervisory parole, and to defend the free speech and association of foreign born. Specific bills targeted included the Rodino Bill and the Field-Knorr Bill, "both of which proposed the establishment of sanctions against employers of 'illegal' aliens." The committee also defended political asylum for Haitians.[3]
On April 26, 1965, the United States Supreme Court in American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born, Petitioner, v. Subversive Activities Control Board affirmed an order of the Subversive Activities Control Board requiring that the committee, represented by Joseph Forer, must register as a 'Communist-front' organization.[8]
In 1977, the committee helped win right to public education for children of illegally immigrated parents.[3]
In 1982, the National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee absorbed the committee.[3]
The US federal government deemed both Communist front organizations that worked closely with the International Labor Defense, the legal arm of the Communist Party USA, in turn, an arm of the Soviet-formed Communist International. Both groups supported Party (Soviet) policies.[1]
The American Committee for Protection of the Foreign Born had ties to the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.[1]
The American Committee for Protection of the Foreign Born had various subcommittees:
In 1950, the Internal Security Act listed as a "subversive" "Communist-front" organization.[2]
The committee had a small staff. Dwight C. Morgan served as executive secretary from 1933 to 1939. Abner Green succeeded him and served from 1941 to 1959. Carol Weiss King served as general counsel from 1942 to 1952; she also co-founded the International Juridical Association (IJA).[4] Ira Gollobin served as associate counsel from 1936 to 1966 and then general counsel from 1967 to 1982.[citation needed]
National Council for Protection of Foreign Born Workers:
In 1942, Hugh De Lacy was national chairman.[9] In 1951, Louise Pettibone Smith was elected chair.[10]
Members or individuals affiliated with the American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born included: Albert Einstein, Bela Lugosi, Rex Stout, Emily Balch,[4] Donald Ogden Stewart, Joris Ivens, Edward G. Robinson, Jacob Ben Ami, Zlatko Balokovic, Bay Lev, Maurice Hindus, Emil Lengyel, Max Lerner, Ella Winter, Maxim Kopf, Pachita Crespi, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Li Yu Ying, Bela Schick, Vilhjalmur Stefansson, Charles Collins, Hugo Ernst, Leo Krzycki, Michael Obermeier, Michael Quill, Ira DeA Reid, Vito Marcantonio, Canada Lee, William Rose Benet, Dr. Aaron Bodansky, Irene Bordoni, Louis B. Boudin, Henrietta Buckmaster, Morris Carnovsky, Aaron Copland, Kyle Crichton, Joseph Curran, Henry Pratt Fairchild, Abram Flaxer, Langston Hughes, George Jessel, Emil Ludwig, Fredric March (and Florence Eldridge), Dudley Nichols, Olga Petrova, Arthur Upham Pope, Louis S. Posner, Adam Clayton Powell Jr., Elmer Rice, Paul Robeson, Doris Rosenthal, Lisa Sergio, Frank Tuttle, Orson Welles, Max Yergan, Blanche Yurka, William Zorach, James A. Baker, Hugh De Lacey, Leo Eloesser, Guy Endore, Edward L. Parsons, Reid Robinson, Maxwell S. Stewart, Theodore Dreiser, Mary McLeod Bethune, Franz Boas, Van Wyck Brooks, Thomas F. Ford, Frank P. Graham, Sidney Hillman, Rockwell Kent, Robert Morss Lovett, Sidney Lovett, Henry N. MacCracken, Francis J. McConnell, Culbert L. Olson, Max Radin, Walter Rautenstrauch, Rose Schneiderman, Guy Emery Shipler, Harry F. Ward, Mary E. Wooley, Pearl M. Hart, Carey Me Williams, Thomas Addis, Sophonisba Breckinridge, Henry Cohen, Stephen Fritchman, Aline Davis Hays, Carol King, Edgar A. Lowther, Lewis Merrill, Stanley Nowak, Max C. Putney, Adolph J. Sabath, George Seldes, Peter Shipka, Herman Shumlin, Curt Swinburne, Donald Henderson, Manuel Buaken, Frederick N. Myers, Frederick V. Field, Lewis Alan Berne, Joseph Cadden, Martha Dodd, Muriel Draper, Abram Flaxer, Alexander Meiklejohn, Genevieve Taggard, John B. Thompson, Oswald Garrison Villard, J. Raymond Walsh, Art Young, Louis Adamic, and James Waterman Wise.[1]
Joseph Freeman (writer) a member,[11] as wel Mady Christians.[12]
The following publications of the American Committee provide details that appear in the Guide to Subversive Organizations and Publications (And Appendixes):
Publications by ACPFB members:
Other publications include: