Reply To: Biden condemns racism and nativism in the same sentence

“why was it so hard for FDR to sign an executive order allowing entry to the jews ”

Because executive orders can’t override statutory law. The President is not a dictator. Under the 1924 Johnson Reed immigration law, anyone entering the United States needed a visa signed by a US consular officer in that person’s home country and for every country in the Eastern Hemisphere, there were strict quotas that could not be exceeded for any reason. There was no such thing as refugee status.

Germany had a decent quota of just over 50,000, which is why most German Jews who tried to get out were able to. Great Britain and Ireland had quotas of around 34,000 and 28,000, respectively, but Jews in those countries were not at risk as the fascists movements in those countries had little popular support.

But Poland’s quota was about 6,000. France’s was about 4,000, as was Italy’s. Czechoslovakia’s was about 3,000. Romania’s was about 600, Hungary’s about 500. Greece’s quota was 100. You can do the math. FDR had no authority to change any of this.

Interestingly there was no quota at all from anywhere in the Western Hemisphere. The borders with Mexico and Canada were essentially open. And there was huge immigration to the US of Spanish and French speakers. The US survived.