American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born collection, 1935-1961
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Summary
- Creator:
- American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born
- Abstract:
- The American Committee for the Protection of Foreign Born was established in 1933 to advocate for rights and education of individuals born outside of the United States. This collection consists of publications, pamphlets, and printed ephemera issued by ACPFB and its subcommittees, regarding immigration and emmigrant rights in the early 20th century. There are materials documenting the organization's opposition to imprisonment and deportation of non-native-born individuals, and opposition to the Walter-McCarran Immigration and Nationality Act.
- Extent:
- 0.25 Linear Feet (1 box)
- Language:
- Materials in English.
- Research Center:
- Human Rights Archive
- Collection ID:
- RL.13194
Background
- Scope and content:
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Collection consists of assorted printed pamphlets, circulars, and ephemera produced by the American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born (later called the American Committee for the Protection of the Foreign Born). Materials document the committee's advocacy for legal protection of individuals' political freedoms and liberties regardless of where they were born. There are booklets opposing deportation of specific union leaders or Communist sympathizers, as well as literature opposing the Hobbs "concentration bill" and the Walter-McCarran Law of 1952. Several items were authored by ACPFB executive secretary Abner Green (also known later as Leon Abner Green).
- Biographical / historical:
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Notes excerpted from New York University Library's collection guide:
"The American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born (1933-1982), based in New York City, was founded for the purpose of defending the rights of the foreign born, especially radicals and Communist Party members, thereby filling a void left by other civil rights defense groups. The Committee's formation was initiated by Roger Baldwin of the American Civil Liberties Union. The Committee pursued its aims through litigation, legislation and public education. In its early years, the Committee's activity focused of campaigning for asylum rights for those refugees who had fled European fascism in the 1930s and were facing deportation. ...
With the outbreak of World War II, the Committee's attentions turned toward promoting national unity against fascism. The ACPFB also aided Japanese Americans who were being forcibly removed and incarcerated by the U.S. government, though removal and incarceration themselves were not opposed. The major individual defense case during the war years was that of CPUSA leader William Schneiderman, whose naturalization was cancelled due to his membership in the Young Workers' League and the Workers' Party. The ACPFB won a reversal of the cancellation in 1943. ...
With the passage of the McCarran Internal Security Act in 1950 and the McCarran-Walter Immigration Act of 1952, the Committee's activity became increasingly geared toward the defense of Communist Party members. The 1960s brought an increasing focus on the discriminatory treatment of Mexican immigrants and West Indian workers, an issue the Committee had begun to devote attention to a decade earlier, as Latin American immigrants were increasingly subject to illegal harassment by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). The ACPFB also campaigned against deportation through the establishment of a statute of limitation, the elimination of supervisory parole and the defense of the right of the foreign born to free speech and association. Efforts on behalf of Latin American immigrant workers continued and intensified in the next decades as INS raids and round-ups increased."
Source quoted: Records of the American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born (TAM.086), Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
- Acquisition information:
- Items in the American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born collection were initially acquired by Perkins Library and cataloged as part of the Perkins Pamphlets in the 1960s. These pamphlets were transferred to Rubenstein Library in the mid-2010s (they were included in a group known as Cage Pams). Additional items were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a purchase in 2025.
- Processing information:
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Processed by Meghan Lyon, May 2026
Accessions present in this guide: Pamphlet Collection 22437; Acc. 2025-0069.
- Arrangement:
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Items are arranged chronologically.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Subjects
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Contents
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- Restrictions:
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Collection is open for research.
- Terms of access:
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The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the Rubenstein Library's Citations, Permissions, and Copyright guide.
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- Preferred citation:
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[Identification of item], American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born collection, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.
- Permalink:
- https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/m1q753