The Jewish Trail of Tears The Evian Conference of ... - Haruth.com

of peace but Parliament annually renewed this policy until 1971, while adding more
stringent controls. 88 The subsequent Aliens Restriction Act of 1919 and the Aliens Order
of 1920 decreed that every immigrant (except those entering on a temporary basis) who
lacked sufficient means of support or a work permit from the Ministry of Labor would be
barred from landing. Any right of appeal to the Home Secretary was again abrogated and
the traditional claim of asylum was revoked. 89 The Government would selectively admit
refugees on the basis of national need but in the “rhetoric of debate on refugee questions,
the tradition of asylum was accorded quasi-constitutional sanctity.” 90
French Interior Minister Albert Sarraut sent reinforcements to the borders to
prevent Jews without proper documentation from entering France. The Government was
opposed to the admission of any new refugees and informed the German Government
that France would no longer tolerate the dumping of German and Austrian refugees
across the border onto French territory. A decree was issued on May 2, 1938 that
categorized potential immigrants as “desirable” or “undesirable.” Sarraut justified this
edict by claiming that “the ever-growing number of foreigners” that had crossed into
France posed an internal threat to the economy and national security. Therefore, the
granting of permission to enter and reside within French territory would have to become
highly selective, differentiating between the “foreigner[s] of good faith” who
demonstrated “an absolutely correct attitude vis-à-vis the Republic and its institutions”
88 Paul Gordon., Policing Immigration: Britain’s Internal Controls (London: Pluto Press Ltd., 1985), 9.
89 Hirschfeld, Exile, 64-65.
90 London, “British Immigration Control Procedures,” 489.
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