Sen. Alexander Wiley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, in a statement to the press, asserted today that “beyond the shadow of a doubt,” the new Congress will amend the present DP law to remove “its administrative snarls and iron out its inequities.” The Judiciary Committee handles displaced persons questions.
The Senator also made public a letter he received a few days ago from Ugo Carusi, chairman of the Displaced Persons Commission, in which the latter points out that the complexity of the DP immigration law is one of the chief factors holding up progress in the program. Carusi also sharply attacked the disputed “cut-off” date in the law–which makes only those DP’s who entered the refugee camps before Dec. 22, 1945, eligible for admission to the U.S., and thus bars thousands of Polish Jews who fled Poland to the U.S. zone in Germany soon after the outbreak of post-war pogroms in Poland.
Sen. Wiley listed five goals which he said should “remain among the most important ones in our future displaced persons policy.” They are: 1. Fulfillment of our humanitarian responsibilities to the displaced persons, “irrespective of race, creed or national origin”; 2. Re-uniting of relatives and kin; 3. Adequate screening “against the possible infiltration of Soviet agents and subversive-minded individuals;” 4. Advancing the national welfare by trying to bring in persons who can fill manpower shortages in key job specialties; and, 5. Fullest cooperation with church, citizens and other groups seeking homes and jobs for the DP’s “to avoid unnecessary delays and prevent dislocation among our own citizens.”
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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.
