The Wagner–Rogers Bill was proposed

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

legislation which would have increased the quota of immigrants by bringing a total of 20,000 Jewish children (there were no sectarian criteria) under the age of 14 (10,000 in 1939, and another 10,000 in 1940) to the United States from

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. The bill was sponsored by Senator Robert F. Wagner (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Edith Rogers (R-Mass.) in the wake of the 1938 ''

Kristallnacht ( ) or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from the Hitler Youth and German civilia ...

'' attacks on Jews in Germany. The bill was introduced to Congress on February 9, 1939. The bill had widespread support among religious and labor groups, but was opposed by nationalist organizations and Democrat Senator

Robert Rice Reynolds Robert Rice Reynolds (June 18, 1884 – February 13, 1963) was an American politician who served as a Democratic US senator from North Carolina from 1932 to 1945. Almost from the outset of his Senate career, "Our Bob," as he was known among hi ...

threatened to

filibuster A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent a decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking ...

against it. President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

supported the bill, but thought he lacked the wherewithal to overcome congressional resistance. His wife,

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( ; October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...

, also expressed support for the bill. A poll by the

American Friends Service Committee The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is a Religious Society of Friends ('' Quaker)-founded'' organization working for peace and social justice in the United States and around the world. AFSC was founded in 1917 as a combined effort by ...

found that thirty-five senators were "in favor" of the bill and thirty-four "probably in favor". These votes may have sufficed for the bill to pass, but a filibuster would have likely caused problems. Nevertheless, the House Immigration Committee never reported the bill out; eleven members were said to be opposed and eight in favor. Historian

Richard Breitman Richard David Breitman (born 1947) is an American historian best known for his study of The Holocaust. Richard Breitman is an American historian who has written extensively on modern German history, the Holocaust, American immigration and refug ...

argues that, in addition to general anti-immigration sentiment, anti-semitism also played a substantial role in the bill's defeat.

References

External links

Marion E. Kenworthy (1891-1980) Papers
at the American Jewish Historical Society, New York, NY United States proposed federal immigration and nationality legislation International response to the Holocaust Opposition to antisemitism in the United States The Holocaust and the United States 1939 in Judaism {{Holocaust-stub