PATH TO FREEDOM

tle food — but always the answer is
no.
"It hurts me, as an Israeli, to see
how no one wants to go to Israel," ad-
mits Belkin, "but my job is to help
these people, not tell them where to
live."
After the JDC interview, the new
arrivals wait to be seen by one of six
HIAS officials who help process their
U.S. visa applications. This interview
takes 10 to 20 minutes, covering the
names and relationships of
emigrating family members and in-
► - eluding their job skills and reasons
for leaving the Soviet Union.
For years, virtually all Soviet
Jewish emigrants applying to the
United States received refugee
status, allowing them to enter the
country with substantial social
benefits and the chance to become a
citizen after five years. Since last fall,
though, that has changed dramatical-
ly. The U.S. agency charged with the
decision, the Immigration and
Naturalization Service (INS), has
been rejecting more and more ap-
plicants — as many as 40 percent iri
recent weeks.
No one knows why for sure, but
many feel that it is more a matter of
finances than politics. The Office of
Management and Budget issued a
directive last fall urging government
agencies to cut expenses, and since
then the INS has been refusing more
applicants. The INS maintains that
each application is judged on its own
merits and that the burden of proof
is on the applicants to show that they
have "a well-grounded fear of
persecution should they return to
their country of origin." According to
INS officials, an increasing number
of emigrants are motivated by
economics rather than persecution.
Others suggest that politics is a
factor, and that with more pressure
on the United States to take in
refugees from Asia and Central
America, Soviet Jews are caught in
the squeeze.
Still another theory is that
Jerusalem has authorized Washing-
ton to apply the squeeze — in the
hopes that if it becomes more difficult
to emigrate to America, more Soviet
Jews will opt for Israel. This theory
is particularly popular with the
transmigrants themselves, though
Jerusalem denies it as unfounded.
In any event, the crisis is deepen-
ing. The number of emigrants is
growing, the wait in Europe has
grown from an average of two months
to three months, the INS is rejecting
more applicants, and JDC and HIAS
funds are running out.
Jewish officials fear that the
human logjam could become far
worse this summer. "This is just the
tip of the iceberg," said one JDC
caseworker. And the place where the
human drama will be focused is the
transit camp in Ladispoli, where the
transmigrants are sent within a week
of their arrival in Vienna because
housing costs are far cheaper there.

L

The small park in Ladispoli, Italy, where many
of the Soviet Jewish transmigrants spend their
afternoons. Signs of friction between the
townspeople and the transmigrants are evident
from the graffiti and painted swastika visible
in the background.

Photo By Richard Lobel!

THE DETRQIT, JEWISH

NEWS 23.

