The US refused to relax immigration quotas even after Kristallnacht’s mass arrests

Evidence

Five days after the so-called Reichskristallnacht (Crystal Night') on 9-10 November 1938, when synagogues throughout Germany were set on fire and destroyed, and 30,000 Jews were arrested and deported to concentration camps, Roosevelt was asked at a press conference in the White House: Would you recommend a relaxation of our immigration restrictions so that the Jewish refugees could be received in this country?’ That is not in contemplation,' the President replied. We have the quota system.’ The quota system allowed 27,230 immigrants from Germany and Austria per year. Small though it was, administrative restrictions meant that this figure was never reached by a long way, except in 1939 and 1940. A few days after the German invasion of the Soviet Union, procedures were tightened even more. From that point on, two United States guarantors were required for each immigrant: one to vouch for the immigrant’s financial independence, and one to vouch for his or her moral integrity. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1479

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s broader critical-theory interest in institutional complicity; parallels the ‘silent majority and leading politicians’ coalition described in the next paragraph. — connects to: Roosevelt refused to relax US immigration quotas even after Kristallnacht.