"...immigrants aren't all potential heroes or brainy scientists, and they don't need to be. A lot of them may not be well educated by schoolroom standards. But people who have seen tyranny close up sometimes understand freedom better than those who are born to it."
~Herbert Block, political cartoonist, The Herblock Book
Rejecting World War II REfugees
Victims of persecution in Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy sought refuge in the United States while it attempted immigration reform. However, prejudiced immigration officials turned them away, only allowing approximately 250,000 to enter and leaving the rest to Holocaust death camps or fleeing to other countries.
The Contribution of the Refugees
Shockingly, this contradictory situation passed unnoticed by Americans, who failed to realize that many refugees who made the journey contributed substantially to American war effort and society.
Physicists gained fame through work in nuclear physics and other unexplored sciences.
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Musicians enriched American culture, along with various artists and writers.
"Helping" the Refugees
World War II led to Communist takeovers in Russia, China, and several European countries. Americans strongly opposed Communism, so Congress passed the Displaced Persons Act of 1948 and the Refugee Relief Act of 1953, allowing 500,000 victims into the United States.
Back to Non-Restrictive Immigration
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Next to the Immigration Act of 1952
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