Statement of Alan C. Nelson Concerning Emergency Powers, September 30, 1982

Nelson, Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, discusses the proposed Immigration Emergency Bill, aimed at addressing mass immigration crises like the 1980 Mariel boatlift. He argues that existing laws were inadequate to control sudden large-scale arrivals of undocumented immigrants, highlighting the need for clearer presidential emergency powers to detain inadmissible aliens and ensure national security.