American officials here today predicted that they would soon be working on a tremendous backlog of visa applications from Germans who had been “involuntary members” of Nazi organizations. They will also speed up the issuance of American visas to “Volksdeutsche,” or persons of German ethnic origin who lived in East European countries and are now residing in Germany.
About 10,000 Volksdeutsche have already been admitted to the United States, it was disclosed here by officials of the U.S. Displaced Persons Commission. However, 44,000 more will soon get their visas. Explaining that there is a shortage of industrial and farm labor in the United States, a spokesman for the D.P. Commission said that there were about 80,000 openings there at present and that many more are expected. Under the D.P. Immigration Act, a total of 346,000 displaced persons can enter the United States until June 30, 1951. So far about 230,000 have entered.
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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.