Why did America not let Jewish refugees into the United States during the 1930s?

Americans seem to be evenly split on the question of whether to accept refugees. Governors in 27 of the 50 states say they’ll refuse to welcome Syrian refugees to their jurisdictions. And a Reuters poll taken this week shows that 52% of Americans believe taking in refugees makes the country less safe—while in September, before the Paris attacks, about half of Americans said the US should accept more Syrian refugees.

That’s a warmer reception than refugees found in the US during World War II, but barely.

In the 1930s, thousands of Jews desperate to escape Hitler’s regime began applying for safe haven in the US and other countries. Americans didn’t want them.

A 1939 bill would have permitted 20,000 Jewish children under the age of 14 trapped in Nazi Germany to enter the US, but more than 80% of Americans opposed it. Laura Delano Houghteling, US president Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first cousin and the wife of the US immigration commissioner, allegedly voiced her concern that “20,000 charming children would all too soon grow up into 20,000 ugly adults.” Pressured by public opinion, Roosevelt refused to support the bill, and it never came to a vote.

Many Americans who today are against accepting Syrian refugees argue that the situation is different this time because they believe Syrians represent a national security threat, whereas no one thought the same of Jews 75 years ago. Only, both of these assertions are off base: Syrian refugees do not pose a threat to the United States, and Americans during World War II did perceive Jewish refugees to be a threat.

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