Approximately 60,000 displaced Jews entered the United States under America’s three-year displaced persons program which terminated this week, it was learned here today.
Addressing a press conference, John W. Gibson, chairman of the DP Commission, said that 19 percent of the approximately 300,000 displaced persons who had been admitted to this country under the DP Act were Jewish, 46 percent Catholic, 35 percent Protestant, Orthodox Churches and various other denominations; 36,000 more displaced persons are scheduled to enter within the next two months, he stated.
About 3,000 Jewish refugees who registered for immigration to the United States under the DP Act have failed to received visas by the deadline which was set for midnight Dec. 31st, Jewish agencies dealing with migration today estimated. However, they are eligible for admission under the regular U. S. immigration quotas.
The Joint Distribution Committee, the United Service for New Americans and the HIAS have already begun preparations for the immigration of these 3,000 applicants under regular immigration quotas. Similar preparations are being made for several thousand Jewish refugees who entered Germany, Austria and Italy after the closing date for registration under the DP Act which was Jan 1, 1949.
At his press conference today Mr. Gibson said that over 39 percent of DP’s are making a real contribution to the United States. The DP Commission, he stated, will continue functioning until August to bring in certain categories of orphans and Eastern European Germans. There are 26,284 visas available for ethnic Germans–persons of German descent who lived in other countries before the war but were expelled after V-E Day–and 7,836 for orphans.
(In Frankfurt, DP Commissioner Henry Rosenfield said that every visa authorized by Congress was used, along with 11,000 extras obtained by “begging, borrowing and stealing” from unfilled national quotas. Hundreds of persons still there fulfilled every requirement for admission to the United States, but “there were just no visas left.” Mr. Rosenfield declared.)
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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.
