Rubbing Out a Stain

Since it was passed over Harry S. Truman’s veto in 1952, the McCarran-Walter Act has been the sore thumb of America’s open hand to all peoples, creeds and ideas. Finally, a courageous federal judge from Los Angeles has declared that critical sections of this communist-scare legislation are inconsistent with the nation’s constitutional principles of free speech.

Significantly, the ruling came from U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson, an appointee of President Reagan and a jurist who is known as a tough-minded conservative. While the case was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union in behalf of aliens who were accused of being Palestinian Marxists, the decision demonstrates that basic rights are not the special province of any particular political party or ideology. Without the fundamental right of free speech extended to everyone, there could be no guarantee of expression of political ideas at all.

The case involved eight legal resident aliens whom the Justice Department originally sought to deport on the basis of their political beliefs--specifically, that as alleged members of a splinter group of the Palestine Liberation Organization they had advocated world communism and represented a threat to national security.

The Reagan Administration frequently has used the McCarran-Walter Act to prevent foreigners, including prominent authors and artists, from visiting the United States to speak or attend conferences, because of their political beliefs. This case was the first in which the Administration sought to deport resident aliens on the same grounds.

This historic ruling should be upheld on appeal. But the 101st Congress need not wait for the higher courts to act. It should quickly cleanse America’s record of freedom and liberty by repealing the stain of the McCarran-Walter Act.