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

immigrant would not end up on the dole. 62
This approach was opposed by Max Kohler,
an immigration consultant to the American Jewish Committee, who asserted that if any
German Jewish refugees became public charges the consequences would “queer all our
efforts.” 63
The State Department also objected to this policy but a ruling by the Attorney
General Homer Commings allowed its implementation. 64
Officials in the State
Department Visa Division warned that the arrival of ships in New York Harbor “laden
with Jewish immigrants” would result in a communal backlash against Foggy Bottom and
another cautioned that easing the entry of German refugees would result in the United
States becoming “flood[ed]” with Jews. 65
Following the Anschluss Perkins called for a
more liberal approach to the granting of visitors’ visas in cases where it was clear that the
foreigner could not return to Germany. The State Department responded that such a
policy would lead to the “complete breakdown” of established immigration protocol.
The annual “quota restriction would become a farce” with stateless refugees acquiring
“permanent admission…without immigration visas and without quota restrictions.” 66
Sumner Welles also believed that the stature and importance of an international
conference was reflected by the rank of its attendees rather than a planned agenda.
62 Ibid., 39-40.
63 Max Kohler to Eugene S. Benjamin, HIAS, December 12, 1933, Cecilia Razovsky Papers, Box 1,
AJHS. Ibid., 40.
64 Ibid., 43-44.
65 Fletcher to Hodgdon, January 8, 1934, 150/01 2168, NA. Ibid., 44.
66 Unknown author, U.S. State Department, Visa Division, “Does the President Have Authority to
Abolish or Waive the Requirement of Passports and Visas in the Case of German Religious, Racial or
Political Refugees?” October 24, 1938, 811.111 Regulations/2176 ½, NA. Ibid., 54. Perkins was the first
woman appointed to a Presidential cabinet and was named Secretary of Labor in 1933.
80