Letter from President Harry S. Truman to the State Department

My dear Mr. Secretary: I have been advised that the State Department has requested, and the Bureau of the Budget has approved for inclusion in the Third Deficiency Appropriation Bill, an item of approximately $1,600,000 for use in connection with immigration to the United States of displaced persons and refugees in Europe. I have approved the appropriation re- quested and trust that it will be enacted by the Congress. You will recall that on December 22, 1945, I issued a directive on the subject of immigration, in which I stated, among other things: "The decision has been made, therefore, to concentrate our immediate efforts in the American zones of occupation in Europe. This is not in- tended however entirely to exclude issuance of visas in other parts of the world. "In our zones in Europe there are citizens of every major European country. Visas issued to displaced persons and refugees will be charged, according to law, to the countries of their origin. They will be distributed fairly among persons of all faiths, creeds and nationality." I have been informed that 90% of the nonpreference quotas are now being allocated to displaced persons in American zones of occupation in Europe, which means that many persons in other countries are denied the opportunity to emigrate to the United States, even though eligible to enter. It is my view that the State Department should now give serious consideration to lessening the allocation to the American-occupied zones, thus enabling displaced per- sons in other areas, as well as eligible persons residing in their native countries, such as Hungary and Czechoslovakia,