The American Jewish Committee today announced that it has sent a letter to Secretary of State Byrnes asking that unused U.S. immicration quotas should be utilized for the admission of stateless and unrepatriable European Jews.
The letter was sent to the State Department following a recent visit to Mr. Byrnes by Jacob Blaustein, chairman of the executive committee of the organization, and John Slawson, executive vice-president, the announcement said, adding that during the visit, the Secretary of State had invited the Committee to submit information on the question.
Mr. Blaustein pointed out in the letter that not more than six percent of the available U.S. immigration quotas for the European area were filled during the fiscal year 1944, and estimated that the figure for the fiscal year 1945 will be equally low if not lowar. The number of Jews in the American and British occupation zones exceeds 100,000, the letter pointed out, adding that the majority are unrepatriable to their countries of origin. Under the United States National Origins Law, the Committee stated, approximately 42,000 visas are available yearly to German, Czechoslovakian, Polish and Rumanian nationals.
Regarding possible transportation difficulties, the letter suggested to Mr. Byrnes that the shipping shortage will end soon, and that issuance of visas against the time when transportation is again available would go a long way toward sustaining the battered morale of the displaced persons.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
