Ninety-five Jewish refugees will leave for Niagra, in Canada, tomorrow morning from the emergency refugee shelter at Fort Ontario, as the first step towards American citizenship.
Part of the 925 refugees who have lived in Oswego for little more than a year and a half, they will proceed to Niagra for re-entry into the United States under permanent quota visas. They will go to Buffalo, N.Y., for resettlement by the National Refugee Service, under plans made for them by a special group of social workers from the staffs of the NRS and the National Council of Jewish Woman.
The first group of refugees–with destinations in Cleveland, Philadelphia, Rochester, Chicago; Buffalo; Minneapolis; Youngstown, Ohio, Erie, Pennsylvania; Union City, Trenton, New Jersey; Arizona and New York City, are being escorted across the border by Bernard Dublin, NRS project director, and Mrs. Mildred M. Levy, social worker for the National Council.
The refugees are being admitted to the United States under a corporate affidavit provided by the NRS. They will be received in communities by local NRS resettlement committees working in cooperation with local Council sections, which will provide naturalization and social adjustment services.
One bus-lead of 37 persons will proceed to New York Friday, where they will be met by relatives and friends at the offices of the NRS. The balance will leave for their ultimate destinations from Buffalo, where they will be housed at the Hotel Statler. Two additional busloads of approximately 100 persons each will go to Niagra for change of status on Jan. 19 and Jan. 22. Other groups will leave the camp at the rate of about 200-300 a week. It is expected that the entire group will leave Oswego by Feb. 6.
In the case of some 250 Yugoslav nationals, the final change of status will not be effective for several months because of a shortage of permanent visas under the immigration laws. These people will be admitted to the country on temporary visas pending a change of status within the next three months.
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