24 No. 77 JUSTICE Kristallnacht led to changes in immigration policy. However, the violence and killing of Jews did not change attitudes in the United States. After Kristallnacht only nine percent of Americans supported increasing immigration for Jews. In 1938 and 1939 virtually all of Germany’s quota slots were used, almost entirely by Jews. More than 58,000 German Jews entered the United States under these quotas in 1939 and 1940. Jewish communities and activists increased the number of rabbis and Jewish academics being brought over — taking advantage of the rule allowing clergymen and professors (and their families) to immigrate outside the quota.33 By 1941 about 110,000 German Jews had come in under the 1924 Act. After Kristallnacht, FDR was asked if he would “recommend a relaxation of our immigration restrictions so that the Jewish refugees could be received in this country.” He replied, “That is not in contemplation; we have the quota system,” which he understood tied his hands, and there was no possibility that Congress would change the law. However, three days later FDR suspended expelling Germans on “Visitor Permits” when their permits expired. This affected between 12,000 and 15,000 Jewish “refugees.” He noted they were “not here under a quota,” and could not naturalize, but asserted it would be “a cruel and inhuman thing to compel them to leave here.” He declared that “if the Congress takes no action” on this new policy “these unfortunate people will be allowed to stay in this country.”34 The United States did not have a formal refugee policy at this time, but in taking these actions, FDR was creating one. He noted that those on visitor permits were not eligible for citizenship, but they were able to stay in the United States and did not have to return to Germany. FDR extended their visas for the rest of his time in office. Once the War began, immigration from Europe became increasingly difficult, and after the U.S. entered the War, any immigration directly from Germany was impossible, as was virtually all Jewish emigration out of Eastern Europe. In 1944 FDR created the War Refugee Board to plan for the resettlement of millions of Europeans, including Jews. The Board helped some Jewish refugees, but fewer than 1,000 reached the United States in 1944. The Board was instrumental in persuading Hungary to cease transporting Jews to Auschwitz in July 1944. Some scholars argue that the Board helped save the lives of about 200,000 Jews near the end of the War. After the War ended the Board was disbanded.35 Conclusions This article, consistent with the theme of this issue on “law and the Holocaust,” focuses on American immigration law before and during World War II. This history is grim and tragic. Until 1882, the United States had minimal regulation of immigration, especially for White Europeans. From 1882 to 1921, Congress limited various classes of immigrants, including almost anyone from China, poor people, illiterates, political radicals, and people with certain health issues. Nevertheless, in that period about 24,000,000 immigrants entered the country, fundamentally altering and enriching the United States. The Statue of Liberty, standing in New York harbor, welcomed the world’s tired, poor, and “huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” About ten percent of the immigrants were Jews, mostly from Europe but some were from Asia and North Africa. Today the vast majority of Jewish Americans are wholly or partially descended from these immigrants. The 1921 and 1924 quotas reflected a political and cultural backlash by the majority of Americans who were White, Protestant, and mostly descended from people from the British Isles, Germany, and northern Europe. Most of the new immigrants were not Protestant and were from Eastern and Southern Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the Caribbean. In this clash of culture, the White, Protestant majority won the political contest. The worldwide depression increased American opposition to immigration, without regard to where the immigrants came from. With a quarter of American workers unemployed, immigrants were seen as cheap labor who would compete for scarce jobs. Organized labor supported FDR. But unions, including those with Jewish leaders, generally 33. Supra note 18, at 116, 124-25; Carl J. Bon Tempo and Hasia R. Diner, supra note 13, at 196-98. 34. “Confidential: Press Conference No. 500 and 501, at the White House, November 15, 1938, and November 18, 1938,” Press Conferences of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1933-1945 | Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum, 229, 238-40, available at http://fdrlibrary.marist.edu/archives/collections/franklin/?p=collections/ findingaid&id=508 35. 9 Fed. Reg. 935 (Jan. 28, 1944); 10 Fed. Reg. 11789 (Sept. 15, 1945).
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