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Presidential Paper Historical Series: Special Message To The Congress On Admission Of Displaced Personsby President Harry S Truman: 1945-1953
140 - Special Message to the Congress on Admission of Displaced Persons
To the Congress of the United States:
On several occasions I have advocated legislation to enable a
substantial number of displaced persons to enter the United
States as immigrants. I stated this view in opening the Second
Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. In the
Message on the State of the Union on January 6, 1947, I
said: "... The fact is that the executive agencies are now doing
all that is reasonably possible under the limitation of
existing law and established quotas. Congressional assistance
in the form of new legislation is needed. I urge the Congress
to turn its attention to this world problem, in an effort to
find ways whereby we can fulfill our responsibilities to these
thousands of homeless and suffering refugees of all
faiths." I express appreciation to the Congress for the attention
already being given to this problem, an appreciation which
appears to be generously shared by the public with increasing
understanding of the facts and of our responsibilities. Because of the urgency of this subject I should like again
to call attention to some of its fundamental aspects. We are
dealing here solely with an emergency problem growing out of
the war--the disposition of a specific group of individuals,
victims of war, who have come into the hands of our own and
the other Western Allied Armies of Occupation in Europe. We should not forget how their destiny came into our hands.
The Nazi armies, as they swept over Europe, uprooted many
millions of men, women, and children from their homes and
forced them to work for the German war economy. The Nazis
annihilated millions by hardship and persecution. Survivors
were taken under the care of the Western Allied Armies, as
these Armies liberated them during the conquest of the enemy.
Since the end of hostilities, the Armies of Occupation have
been able to return to their homes some 7,000,000 of these
people. But there still remain, in the Western Zones of
Germany and Austria and in Italy, close to a million survivors
who are unwilling by reason of political opinion and fear of
persecution to return to the areas where they once had homes.
The great majority come from the northern Baltic areas,
Poland, the Russian Ukraine and Yugoslavia. The new International Refugee Organization, supported by
the contributions of this and other countries, will aid in the
care and resettlement of these displaced persons. But, as I
have pointed out before, the International Refugee
Organization is only a service organization. It cannot impose
its will on member countries. Continuance of this Organization
and our financial support of its work will be required as long
as the problem of these homeless people remains unsolved. It is unthinkable that they should be left indefinitely in
camps in Europe. We cannot turn them out in Germany into the
community of the very people who persecuted them. Moreover,
the German economy, so devastated by war and so badly
overcrowded with the return of people of German origin from
neighboring countries, is approaching an economic suffocation
which in itself is one of our major problems. Turning these
displaced persons into such chaos would be disastrous for them
and would seriously aggravate our problems there. This Government has been firm in resisting any proposal to
send these people back to their former homes by force, where
it is evident that their unwillingness to return is based upon
political considerations or fear of persecution. In this
policy I am confident I have your support. These victims of war and oppression look hopefully to the
democratic countries to help them rebuild their lives and
provide for the future of their children. We must not destroy
their hope. The only civilized course is to enable these
people to take new roots in friendly soil. Already certain
countries of Western Europe and Latin America have opened
their doors to substantial numbers of these displaced persons.
Plans for making homes for more of them in other countries are
under consideration. But our plain duty requires that we join
with other nations in solving this tragic problem. We ourselves should admit a substantial number as
immigrants. We have not yet been able to do this because our
present statutory quotas applicable to the Eastern European
areas from which most of these people come are wholly
inadequate for this purpose. Special legislation limited to
this particular emergency will therefore be necessary if we
are to share with other nations in this enterprise of offering
an opportunity for a new life to these people. I wish to emphasize that there is no proposal for a general
revision of our immigration policy as now enunciated in our
immigration statutes. There is no proposal to waive or lower
our present prescribed standards for testing the fitness for
admission of every immigrant, including these displaced
persons. Those permitted to enter would still have to meet the
admission requirements of our existing immigration laws. These
laws provide adequate guarantees against the entry of those
who are criminals or subversives, those likely to become
public charges, and those who are otherwise undesirable. These displaced persons are hardy and resourceful or they
would not have survived. A survey of the occupational
backgrounds of those in our Assembly Centers shows a wide
variety of professions, crafts, and skills. These are people
who oppose totalitarian rule, and who because of their burning
faith in the principles of freedom and democracy have suffered
untold privation and hardship. Because they are not communists
and are opposed to communism, they have staunchly resisted all
efforts to induce them to return to communist-controlled
areas. In addition, they were our individual allies in the
war. In the light of the vast numbers of people of all countries
that we have usefully assimilated into our national life, it
is clear that we could readily absorb the relatively small
number of these displaced persons who would be admitted. We
should not forget that our Nation was founded by immigrants
many of whom fled oppression and persecution. We have thrived
on the energy and diversity of many peoples. It is a source of
our strength that we number among our people all the major
religions, races and national origins. Most of the individuals in the displaced persons centers
already have strong roots in this country--by kinship,
religion or national origin. Their occupational background
clearly indicates that they can quickly become useful members
of our American communities. Their kinsmen, already in the
United States, have been vital factors in farm and workshop
for generations. They have made lasting contributions to our
arts and sciences and political life. They have been numbered
among our honored dead on every battlefield of war. We are dealing with a human problem, a world tragedy. Let
us remember that these are fellow human beings now living
under conditions which frustrate hope; which make it
impossible for them to take any steps, unaided, to build for
themselves or their children the foundations of a new life.
They live in corroding uncertainty of their future. Their fate
is in our hands and must now be decided. Let us join in giving
them a chance at decent and self-supporting lives. I urge the Congress to press forward with its consideration
of this subject and to pass suitable legislation as speedily
as
possible. NOTE: On June 25, 1948, the President approved the
Displaced Persons Act of 1948 which authorized for a limited
period of time the admission of certain European displaced
persons for permanent residence (62 Stat. 1009).
Reprinted with permission from John Wolley and Gerhard Peters of the Department of Political Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara at the American Presidency Project.
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