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The U.S. Should Welcome Soviet Jews
| Article
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17400 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
Date : |
1 / 1990 |
2,658 Words |
| Author
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Rita J. Simon
Rita J. Simon is a sociologist in the School of Public Affairs
at American University. She has authored several books and
articles on immigration. |
Between 1966 and 1982, some 250,000 Jews were granted exit visas and permitted to leave the Soviet Union. During the first half of that period, most of the migrants opted to go to Israel; in 1975, however, a shift began to occur away from Israel as a destination and toward the United States. By 1978, the majority of Soviet emigrants was coming to the United States, and between 1975 and 1980 some 90,000 arrived. Soviet Jewish immigration reached its peak in 1979, with 51,000 arriving in the United States that year. But after their invasion of Afghanistan in 1980, the Soviets permitted less than half the previous year's number to leave the country: In 1981, only 9,500 Jews were permitted to leave, and in 1983, fewer than 1,400 were granted exit visas.
But the pendulum has swung once again in favor of easing restrictions on persons wishing to leave the Soviet Union. In 1987, 8,150 Jews were granted exit visas; in 1988, 19,300 received visas and emigrated. The numbers for 1989 are expected to be higher still, and by the end of 1990 they are expected to exceed by some 100,000 the 51,000 mark that had been the previous high point of Soviet Jewish emigration for a single year.
Problems, however, have arisen on the part of the receiving nations. As of July 1989 some 13,000 Soviet Jewish émigrés were living in temporary quarters in Ladispoli, a suburb of Rome, awaiting visas to the United States. The problem is not limited to those in transit. It includes the thousands who are waiting for exit visas in the Soviet Union and who want to come to the United States. Ever since Soviet authorities began to grant permission for Jews to leave the Soviet Union more than two decades ago, they have done so on the premise that their intended destination was Israel. Even though as early as the mid-1970s a majority of the émigrés changed their destination after they left Soviet soil, the procedures have remained the same.
In theory, Soviet Jews apply for exit visas in order to join family members living in Israel. In fact, most have used these visas to enter the United States, and until recently almost all have been admitted as refugees. The current problems have arisen because the U.S. government and the American Jewish community are having second thoughts about welcoming great numbers of Soviet Jews.
The American Jewish community does not, of course, speak with one voice on this issue. But some spokesmen would prefer to have the Soviet Jews go directly to Israel with no choice offered as to destination after they leave Soviet soil. Others
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