A plan to suspend immigration quota restrictions for the duration of the war and for six months after its end as a means of saving European Jews from Axis persecution and annihilation has been submitted to Congress jointly by the National Democratic Club and the National Republican Club.
The proposal was made public last night in a statement signed by William G. Fullen, president of the National Democratic Club, and Thomas J. Curran, president of the National Republican Club.
The plan calls for a simple joint resolution by Congress instructing the Secretary of State and the Attorney General to draw up regulations lowering immigration bars for “any alien who shall prove to the satisfaction of the proper immigration officer or to the Attorney General that he is seeking admission to the United States to avoid religious persecution.”
A joint statement outlining the plan says: “There is overwhelming proof the Nazis, carrying out Hitler’s program as contained in Mein Kampf and as reiterated many times both before Germany entered the war and since, are systematically murdering the Jews in Europe within their control with the intent to bring about the complete annihilation of these Jews. The best available figures indicate practically one-half the Jews within the control of the Nazis have been wantonly killed.
It was further stated that the plan proposed involved only a temporary suspension of quota restrictions and would not affect permanent immigration policy.
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.
