There was a fear from the State Department that refugees could be blackmailed into working as agents for Germany during World War II. As a result, the government imposed stricter immigration laws.
In January 1944, President Roosevelt established the War Refugee Board to rescue European Jews. The initiative saved thousands of Jews from Hungary, Romania, and other countries.
In April 1944, Roosevelt directed that Fort Ontario, New York, become a free port for refugees. Only a few thousand refugees were allowed there; they were from liberated areas, not from Nazi-occupied areasà in no imminent danger of deportation to killing centers in German-occupied Poland.
John Pehle, Executive Director of the War Refugee Board. United States, 1940s. (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)
American police allow a Jewish refugee and his daughter into the US through Fort Ontario.1944. (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)
