Deportations Are Threatening All Americans

End Deportation Hysteria!

In 1952, the United States Supreme Court ruled in a split verdict that Greek immigrant (and longtime resident) Peter Harisiades could be forcefully deported due to his earlier participation in the Communist Party. The Court upheld the broad authority Congress has over immigration and national security, even when the individuals’ political activities had occurred years earlier and posed no current threat. This collection of ephemera encourages Americans not to give up the fight.

A form letter from George Murphy, Co-Chair of the American Committee for the Protection of Foreign-Born, is accompanied by a pamphlet containing the written dissent of Justice William Douglas and the concurrence of Justice Hugo Black. A petition form features a map that pinpoints the epidemic of outstanding cases across the U.S. Harisiades was ultimately offered asylum in Poland, as the political climate in post-Civil War Greece put him at significant risk.