Biddle Urges Selective Post-war Immigration to America at Hias Convention

Pointing out that other countries, smaller than the United States, especially Sweden, “have responded far more generously” than America in admitting refugees from Nazi lands, Attorney General Francis Biddle, addressing the annual convention of Hias today, expressed opposition to projects “to out off all immigration to this country as soon as the war is over.” He urged, however, that a system of restricted immigration be introduced.

“I suggest that our future controls may be made more selective,” the Attorney General said. “It is too early to determine what forms that choice may take. Probably no long therm policy can be outlined until we see what direction – politically and economically the post-war years will take. Our policies will be guided primarily by our own needs. But those needs will necessarily be influenced, and to an extent defined, by our relation to other countries of the world. Occupations might be considered in making our determinations. Should we also take into account some form of geographic control, such as the admission of immigrants most fitted to build the development of thinly inhabited regions such as Alaska? Is it possible to devise and to administer laws of which the effect would be to direct the newcomers away from the areas of congestion and toward areas where population is sparse and development may be suffering for want of sufficient manpower? I do not know; I simply present the questions. There are other aspects of this intricate problem which must also be considered. Our experience has shown which races can be more readily assimilated. This is a consideration that should not be overlooked.”

CONVENTION LAUDS ROOSEVELT’S RESCUE EFFORTS; PROCLAIMS $1,500,000 DRIVE

An appeal to the Government of the United States and to the United Nations for a speedy implementation of the program to rescue Jews and other persecuted people from occupied Europe was voiced at the convention, which was attended by 2,500 delegates from numerous Jewish religious, labor and fraternal organizations.

The meeting, which was presided over by Abraham Herman, president of Hias, also adopted a resolution lauding President Roosevelt for creating the War Refugee Board to deal with the rescue program. It applauded the $100,000 contribution made by the HIAS toward the work of the War Refugee Board and unanimously voted for a $1,500,000 budget for 1944 to carry out a wider scale program of refugee aid services at home and abroad. $650,000. of the amount has been earmarked for services to be performed by HIAS-ICA at European ports of embarkation and in Central and South American countries.

“It must be clear to all of us that the greater opportunities for rescue which have been opened to us as a result of President Roosevelt’s historic act and the program of his War Refugee Board, impose upon us a sacred and urgent obligation which will be cheerfully accepted and diligently performed by us,” Mr. Herman said in his presidential address.

A total of 117,205 Jewish refugees from Europe have been saved since 1940 from Nazi persecution thanks to the possibilities for emigration overseas that were kept open for them, it was revealed in the report submitted to the convention by Isaac L. Asofsky, executive director of HIAS. Of them, 75,995 were admitted into the United States; 13,651 entered Palestine; 16,559 found havens in South American countries and an estimated number of approximately 11,000 found asylum in Central American and other countries. The year 1944 witnessed the lowest ebb of Jewish emigration from Europe during the war period, Mr. Asofsky said.