Immigration to U.S. Lowest in Eighty Years, Department of Justice Reports

A drastic curtailment of immigration to the United States during the last twelve months was reported by the Department of Justice today. Entries of aliens during the year ending June 30, 1943, were the lowest in 80 years.

Only 104,842 aliens entered the country during the twelve month period, and of those only 23,725 came as immigrants intending to remain permanently, according to Earl G. Harrison, Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Not since 1862–also a war year–have there been fewer aliens entering the country. That year the total was 91,982. Of the 23,725 immigrant aliens admitted during the past year the largest group was Jews. Most of the 4,705 Jews admitted were in flight from Nazi persecution. The second largest group, 3,692, was English.

The number of Jews admitted to the United States has decreased from 43,450 in 1939 to 1/10 that number during the past year. In 1940, 36,945 Jews were immigrants to the United States; in 1941 there were 23,737. In 1942, 10,608 were permitted to enter.

As evidence of the effect of the war in uprooting large population groups. Mr. Harrison pointed to the disparity between the figures showing country of birth and country of last permanent residence of the immigrants admitted. For example, of the 1,201 people giving France as their country of last permanent residence, only 524 gave it as their country of birth. This is explained by the large numbers of fugitives from other occupied European countries who flocked into France before the summer of 1940. On the other hand, of 1,295 aliens giving Germany as their country of birth, only 248 gave it as the country of their last permanent residence, reflecting large-scale migrations out of Germany. Similarly, 1,647 gave Poland as their country of birth, and only 394 gave it as the country of last permanent residence.