But the Soviet Government. I am informed. does not recognize their United States citizenship. In fairness. we must recognize that the Soviet Government has in fact permitted a substantial number of these American Armenians to emigrate. But many. who have applied for exit permits. remain in the Soviet Union. The issuance or denial of exit permits for these people by the Soviet Government appears to be purely capricious and arbitraryfamilies are divided. and no reason is given for the arbitrary act that can condemn these Americans to live their lives far from their true "homeland" against their will. The Soviet refusal to recognize the claims of these people to United States citizenship is illegal. But beyond that. the capricious denial of emigration is a denial of the most elementary human rights. and an affront to the spirit of reasonableness on which we must hope to build a more secure world in the future. I believe the executive branch of our Government should make strong and urgent representations to the Soviet Government on behalf of these people. I have written to the Secretary of State asking for a full report on what the State Department is doing and proposes to do to assist these Americans to return to their native land.
Keywords matched
emigrate emigration