JTA: When Jews came from ‘shithole’ countries

Jews were “undesirable.”

They were “of low physical and mental standards.” They were “filthy.” They were “often dangerous in their habits.” They were “un-American.”

So read a report submitted to the House Committee on Immigration in 1924, written by the director of the United States Consular Service and approved by the secretary of state. That year, Congress passed a bill that drastically slashed immigration from Eastern and Southern Europe, responding to xenophobic feelings across the country.