Did we favor Jewish immigrants at times during the past?

Not that I know of over any other immigrant group at the time. In fact, Roosevelt turned away at least one ship of refugees from the Nazis and sent them back to certain death.

It would be against our basic tenets to favor one religious group over another but not to give asylum to refugees from ravaged countries such as Syria.

Favoring one particular religion violates the Constitution’s establishment clause. Our government must remain neutral on the subject of religion.

“Refugee status or asylum may be granted to people who have been persecuted or fear they will be persecuted on account of race, religion, nationality, and/or membership in a particular social group or political opinion.” – US Department of Homeland Security

BTW, the people being persecuted in Syria and Iraq are mostly Muslims.

@Call_Me_Jay Thank you. I stand corrected.

@Hawaii_Jake No I think you had a valid point. The favor is granted on the basis of persecution, not on being from a particular religion.

I have never heard of this nation favoring one group over another. ANY type of consideration (other than there possibly being too many people here to begin with) would be, should be unlawful as discrimination.

@Zaku That’s where I was coming from too.

@janbb I know about the ship FDR wouldn’t take in, I think the British accepted those Jews into their country. There is more than one example of America not letting in the Jews. My question is, have we favored them ever in our immigration policy.

For some interesting reading, check out the Lautenberg amendment. And to make it work you probably need to add the word “immigration”.(Lautenberg was a busy man).

??

“The Lautenberg Amendment is a supplement to the Gun Control Act of 1968. The Amendment makes it a felony for anyone convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence to ship, transport, possess, or receive firearms or ammunition. It is also a felony for any person to sell or otherwise dispose of a firearm to anyone known to have such a conviction”

@JLeslie As I said not that I know of.

Lautenberg Immigration Amendment 1990.

@Call_Me_Jay “BTW, the people being persecuted in Syria and Iraq are mostly Muslims.”

That is simply because they executed all the Christians and none left anymore to persecute.

OK The Lautenberg amendment on immigration is an obscure little amendment to the “Foreign Operations Appropriations Act for fiscal year 1990”. I bet not one American in a million ever heard of it, yet Lautenberg himself estimates that it resulted in the 90s of between 350–400,000 Jews immigrating to the United States from Russia (to the considerable irritation of Israel, the declared initial destination of the majority of the so called refugees.). As a result, there are now more Russian Jews in NYC than in any other city on the Earth. The crucial aspect of the amendment was that it allowed people of certain ethnicities (and one ethnicity in particular) immediate immigrant status without having to demonstrate fear or proof of persecution. In other words, even obscure Jewish ethnicity was your ticket out of Russia, to a U.S. taxpayer subsidised existence on your arrival here. To be fair, other very obscure groups were included in this lottery. This act has to be renewed yearly, and there is understandably a great deal of resentment on the part of those wishing to come here who are required to clear the normal hurdles.

@stanleybmanly Interesting because that favoritism has also been shown to the Cubans and is now ended.

And, as I think more about it, we made it damn easy for the Chinese to come to America when we needed their cheap labor in the 19th century. Boats went from California to China to invite young Chinese men to come. When we no longer needed their labor, the ropes were tightened.

I’m not sure, but I think Trump has threatened to eliminate the Lautenberg provision. And the Chinese episode was truly shameful in excluding the women from entry into the country.

There were so many shameful things about the way we treated the Chinese immigrants – and most other groups.

The Roosevelt administration was criminally complicit in enforcing Jewish immigration quotas, and was responsible for the death of tens of thousands of Jews. Roosevelt was an asshole.

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/apr/07/opinion/la-oe-medoff-roosevelt-holocaust-20130407

I thought Chinese people came in under political Asylum like the Russians during communism.

It’s pretty common to actively bring in immigrants for labor.

I had always though a lot of Jewish Russians were let in during the 90’s. There are a ton of Jewish Russians in Aventura, FL and other Russians too.

One girl I knew had told me when America started allowing more Jews to come over from Russia (that’s how she put it) the Jewish Federation paid the $2,000 for each flight for her mom and herself to come to America. Her mother told her she was going to pay back every penny even if it was just $10 a month so that the next Jewish family who needs it will have it. There was no requirement to pay it back. They did pay it all back. It took them a few years, but they paid back everything.

@JLeslie The Chinese immigrants in the 19th century received horrendous treatment.

Non-whites were not allowed to become citizens. A child born in the US to Chinese parents was not a citizen, which was granted automatically to white kids.

Almost all Chinese Americans moved to Chinatowns because they were not safe anywhere else.

There was a law specifically banning Chinese immigration from 1882 to 1943.

Chinese Exclusion Act

Anti-Chinese sentiment in the United States

^^Interesting. I didn’t know this piece of history. Thanks.