Mitchell Has Authority to Allow Soviet Jews to Enter Us As Refugees

Attorney General John Mitchell informed two Congressmen that he had the legal authority to allow soviet Jews to enter the United States as refugees if they were permitted to leave the Soviet Union. He made the statement in letters to Rep. Emanuel Celler. (D. N.Y.) chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Peter W. Rodino Jr. (D., N.J.), chairman of the Committee’s subcommittee. The State Department previously had expressed opposition to bills in both the House and Senate which would enable the government to issue up to 30,000 special visas for Soviet Jews to enter the United States. Mitchell said. in a Justice Department press statement, that he “would exercise my discretion if the situation demanded” and Soviet Jews are able to leave the Soviet Union.

The statement also said that the question of the extent of the Attorney General’s authority “arose in connection with several legislative proposals dealing with the plight of Soviet Jews.” The substance of the press statement was contained in the letters to the two Representatives. “The mounting evidence that Soviet Jews have unsuccessfully sought permission to emigrate from the Soviet Union has compelled a departmental reexamination with respect to refugees,” Mitchell said in the statement. “As a result of this review,” he added, “earlier doubts as to the Attorney General’s authority to allow refugees to enter the United States have been diminished.”

Previously Justice Department officials contended that under the present authority, a Jew would have to first leave the Soviet Union and go to a third country before he could receive parole authority to enter the United States temporarily. Celler and Congressman Edward I. Koch (D., N.Y.) whose bill for 30,000 emergency visas for Soviet Jews has 120 sponsors in the House, will hold a press conference Wednesday noon to discuss Mitchell’s statement. Meanwhile, an important section of Jewish leadership in Washington interpreted Mitchell’s statement as basically achieving the intent of Koch’s bill. One leader said that it should help make the record clear that the government is committing itself to the support of Soviet Jews who wish to emigrate.