Immigrants receive aid
In her op-ed about the “public charge” rule, Ann Toback blamed Herbert Hoover for using this rule to keep Jews out of the United States (“The ‘public charge’ rule puts immigrants in the crosshairs,” May 26). This is simply not true since Hitler became chancellor on Jan. 30, 1933, and Franklin D. Roosevelt became president one month later.
If anyone kept out the Jews, it was Roosevelt and his anti-Semitic Assistant Secretary of State Samuel Breckinridge Long, who supervised the Visa Division. Jews were excluded and denied visas even when they had family members who guaranteed their support.
Similarly, much of what Toback wrote is false. Immigrant workers have not been excluded from the relief packages enacted by Congress. It is true that individuals here without Social Security numbers — many of whom are not legal immigrants — are not getting checks. That doesn’t seem unreasonable to me. There’s only so much money to go around and it seems to me that the money should go to Americans and legal immigrants. Incidentally, my recent immigrant son-in-law received his check without a problem.
Mark Mandell
Jefferson Township
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