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Refugees Look to West As U. S. Eases Immigration LawsBy BRACK G. CURRYWASHINGTON—War-Imposed restraints on Immigration soon will be eliminated. In a short time a trickle of war refugees and displaced persons, pushed or yanked from their homes by the Nazis, will start entering the United States from European refugee camps.Orphaned children probably willpredominate.Acting under President Truman’s December 22 immigration directive, a government committee will give on-the-scene assistance to help speed the movement to this country of European refugees and displaced persons. The refugees will come in under existing immigration laws.Headed by Ugo Carusi, • commissioner of naturalization and immigration of the Justice department, the committee will set up five or six offices in the American zone of Germany.Staffed by representatives of the Justice and State departments and the U.8. Public Health 8ervlce, these offices will pass on the qualifications of refugees and displaced persons seeking to enter the United States.Why They SteppedDuring the war very few persons came to the United States from Europe. The reason: transportation shortages, closing of American consular offices and obstacles Imposed by enemy nations.In 1942, for example, abdut 10 per cent of the Immigration quotas were used. In 1943 the figure slumped to five per cent. It rose to six per cent n 1944 and to seven per cent In1945.Now President Truman says the United States “shares the responsibility to relieve the suffering resulting from the “appalling dislocation of populations in Europe.In his directive Mr. Truman said:“To the extent that our present immigration laws permit, everything possible should be done at once to facilitate the entrance of some of these displaced persons and refugees into the United States.The President’s directive principally affects two groups:1. Natives of Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans, since most of the refugees- and displaced persons are from these areas.2. Persons at the Oswego, N. Y., war relocation camp.The total annual immigration quota for the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans Is about 39.000, says the Immigration and Naturalization Service.Under the law, no more than 10 per cent of the annual quota can be admitted in any month. This limits the number of persons who can be plucked from camps in Europe and moved to this country to about 3,000 a month.The Immigration and Naturaliza-
Newspaper Details
Hattiesburg American
Hattiesburg, Mississippi, US
Thu, Jan 31, 1946
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Full Page
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History M.
OH, USA 10 Jan 2017
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