"In 1938 the Nazis burned every synagogue in the nation, shattered the windows of every Jewish establishment, hauled twenty-five thousand innocent people to concentration camps, and forced the Jews to pay 1,000,000,000 marks for the damage.
"Five days later, at a White House press conference, a reporter asked the President "Would you recommend a relaxation of our immigration restrictions so that the Jewish refugees could be received in this country?"
'This is not in contemplation," replied the President. "We have the quota system.'
"The United States not only insisted upon its immigration law throughout the Nazi era, but administered it with severity and callousness. In spite of unprecedented circumstances, the law was constricted so that even its narrow quotas were not met. The lamp remained lifted beside the golden door, but the flame had been extinguished and the door was padlocked."
- Arthur D. Morse
http://www.fff.org/freedom/0691a.asp
2007-06-29
12:58:42
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28 answers
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asked by
Ray Eston Smith Jr
6