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Call 354-6060 Meet Chicago designer Robin Andelman of MERLE as she previews the Fall '88 signature collection ()I unlined. unconstructed coats. jackets & THURSDAY, JULY 21 1 lam - 5pm FRIDAY, JULY 22 1 lam - 5pm (Th le/ye Ce THE ULTIMATE IN WOMEN'S ACCESSORIES La Mirage • 29555 Northwestern Hwy. • Southfield, MI • (313) 356-8870 18 FRIDAY, JULY 15, 1988 visas. Ben Zion Leuchter, presi- dent of HIAS, said he believes Soviet leaders will use the suspension as an example of the Reagan administration's lack of commitment to its human rights policy. "They could say that U.S. leaders are always moralizing about human rights, but then they had a budgetary problem that was more important." Leuchter further expressed concern for the future of the "two-track system," whereby Soviet Jews wishing to settle in Israel would apply for Israeli visas while those seek- ing to immigrate to the United States would do so on U.S. visas. Last April, Soviet Jewish organizations throughout the United States signed a state- ment supporting the two- track plan. Now, Leuchter said, he is concerned that Soviet Jews will continue to use Israeli visas to come to the West because it will be impossible to obtain U.S. visas. The vast majority of Soviet Jews are opting to come to the United States. Last year alone, more than 75 percent of the Soviet Jewish emigrants, leaving on Israeli visas, re- quested U.S. citizenship. Israel attempted to address this issue only last month, when the Knesset announced that it will no longer grant visas to Soviet Jews who do not plan to settle in Israel. This Knesset move, coupled with the State Department's suspension on U.S. visas to Soviet citizens, allows no room for Soviet Jews who wish to come to the West. This contradicts the U.S. ad- ministration's support of allowing refugees to settle in the country of their choice, ac- cording to Pamela Cohen, president of the Union of Councils of Soviet Jews. "The timing of this is very, very bad:' she said. Because the administration is purporting that the suspen- sion was necessary for finan- cial reasons, the UCSJ hopes to convince the State Depart- ment to make use of a clause of the Anti-Deficiency Law, which provides for funding in emergency situations. "Our top priority must be to help those people struggling to get out of the Soviet Union:' Cohen said. "That they should have to suffer anti-Semitism and have their lives endangered and then not be able to leave because of restraints on the emigration process is indefensible." Several Soviet Jewry ac- tivists expressed frustration because, they said, the State Department knew some time ago that an increased number of Soviet citizens would be seeking refugee status in the United States. State Department officials admitted as much, and said they tried to deal with the situation accordingly. Sheppie Abramowitz of the bureau of refugee programs said the department agreed to accept this year an additional 15,000 refugees from Eastern Europe, mostly Soviet Jews and Armenians. This decision was approved by President Reagan and the Congress and funds were re- quested to deal with the in- crease. Yet only a small por- tion of the monies could be secured, Abramowitz said. One Soviet Jewry activist "Our top priority must be to help those people struggling to get out of the Soviet Union." completely rejected this scenario. "What really hap- pened is that the State Department was pressured by the Office of Management and Budget," he said. "Everybody knew there would be all these refugees, and the State Department said they would find the finances to handle it. Ob- viously they didn't. And they never requested more money because OMB insisted they wouldn't get it." Abramowitz said that bureau of refugee programs does consult Jewish organiza- tions, including HIAS, before setting the ceiling on the figure of refugees to be ac- cepted each year. "We're all aware of the financial problem with the in- creasing number of refugees and we're trying to solve it," Abramowitz said. In the meantime, Soviet Jewry advocates find little comfort in promises for the future and explanations such as, "this is just a bureaucratic mix-up," which one activist heard from a State Depart- ment official. "We are in danger of giving the Soviet Union a wonderful victory," HIAS' Leuchter said. "And we ought to be using every method we can and every means we can to get everybody out now while the doors in the Soviet Union are open." "We feel very strongly about this;' added Pamela Cohen. "And we're not going to quit until we win."