The immigration regulations of the McCarran Walter Act were termed last night “fantastic and grotesque” by Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, noted atomic scientist and director of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, N.J. He pointed out that under these regulations, “perhaps not even” Prof. Albert Einstein could have been admitted to the United States. He expressed these views in a television interview with Edward R. Murrow.
Dr. Oppenheimer said that, in addition to being ashamed by Europe’ contempt, “we are rightly ashamed that we can’t hold congresses in this country, that we can’t, often don’t, let people go to congresses where they’re most wanted.” The scientist pressed strongly for free communication between men instead of barriers that barred exchanges of knowledge.
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.
