What misery red tape can bring about was told by two little Jewish immigrants, orphans, 12 and 10 years old respectively, who arrived the other day from Warsaw and who were brought to the home of the Hebrew Sheltering and Immigrant Aid Society before being reunited with their father, who lives in Brooklyn.
When the first application for visas was made the mother of the children was with them. She died as a result of the heartache caused by the difficulties she encountered. First the visas were refused on the ground that the father was only a declarant—that is, he had only his first papers.
In the meantime, the father became an American citizen. New documents were prepared and all the proofs of support submitted, but again they were of no avail. The consul was still dissatisfied. HIAS in New York was cabled to and letters were written for help.
The father fortunately had a house. He was urged to send the deed to the property to the children for presentation to the consul as evidence that he was absolutely in a position to take care of the family, which he did.
But the granting of the visas was once again postponed, this time for one month. After incessant representations, the visas were finally issued. If that red tape would only have been cut what a different story could have been told.
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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.
