Major Jewish groups urge Biden to let in Ukrainian refugees

The Conference of President of Major Jewish American organizations and an alphabet soup of Jewish groups are calling on the US government to allow in Ukrainian refugees with close relatives there.

“The United States can and must share responsibility [with Europe] for those refugees, particularly those with family in the United States. Our community knows painfully too well what happens when America shuts its doors to refugees,” reads the letter addressed to President Joe Biden.

A letter sent by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations on March 11, 2022. (Conference of Presidents)

“Those with close family in America should be able to wait with their loved ones in the United States until it is safe to return to Ukraine,” the letter reads.

The appeal, sent on March 11 but only publicized now, notes the Bill Clinton Administration’s precedent of having let in 20,000 Kosovars fleeing war in 1999, which it says proved “that when the White House has the will to urgently resettle refugees, it can find a way.”

Among the other signatories is the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, the Anti-Defamation League, and umbrella groups representing all major streams of Judaism in the US.

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