Mr. President. for Americans. the right to emigrate is a precious human right that rests upon the principle of freedom of choice. We Americans have long taken for granted this fundamental human right. After all. our Nation was built by immigrants. The history of America is essentially a history of immigration. Accordingly. over the years we have come to regard emigration as very much in the natural order of things. Even those Americans. dissatisfied with what some have described as the depreciation of American life. were never hindered in their exodus by any act of our Government. But. in the last year. we have seen once again that this right of emigration is not available to all citizens of the world. I refer specifically to the case of the Soviet Jews. The Soviet Government has prevented the emigration of Soviet Jews. and only after great pressure was applied from abroad. and considerable pressure from within. was a limited number permitted to emigrate to Israel. It is no secret why so many Jews want to leave the Soviet Union. Over the past few years despite the attempts of the Soviet Government to stifle the news. we have become increasingly aware of the discrimination that has been Imposed upon Soviet Jews.
Keywords matched
emigrate immigration immigrants emigration