While it remains to be seen whether the severely repressive Soviet system will see meaningful democratic reform under the new Soviet openness. the good news is that the escape hatchemigrationfinally seems to be creaking open again. In the early 1980s. Soviet Jewish emigration levels had plummeted from a high of 51.320 in 1979 to a mere 896 in 1984. 1.140 in 1985. and 914 last year. As of October 31. the number of Jewish emigration approvals for 1987 was 6.340. That is still way below the excellent levels we saw at the end of the 1970s. but an encouraging improvement over last year. I can offer personal evidence that the exit visa approvals are coming through for Soviet Jews. Mr. President. Last summer. I heard about the case of Tsalo and Khaya Lipchin. an elderly couple in Leningrad that had been seeking exit visas since 1978. The Lipchins. who wished to join their only son Leonid in Massachusetts. had been refused permission to emigrate 17 separate times in 9 years. The reason given was the convenient allegation that national security would be endangered by allowing emigration in this case. It was alleged that Mr. Lipchin had had access to state secrets during his employment in the computer industry. The Lipchins denied this claim of access to state secrets. and finally this year they were vindicated. The Committee for State Security [KGB] of the U.S.S.R. determined that alleged access to secret information by Tsalo Lipchin was not a valid basis for refusal of permission to emigrate. Still. however. the Lipchins lacked an exit visa. At this point. I made an effort to bring their case to the attention of Soviet authorities. I wrote letters to General Secretary Gorbachev. to Rudolph Kuznetsov. head of the Visas and Registration Department [OVIR] of the U.S.S.R.. and also to the chief of the Leningrad office of OVIR. I pointed out to these officials the simple desire of the Lipchin family to be reunited in the United States. I also mentioned the fact that Khaya Lipchin had suffered a stroke in 1986 and remained ill.
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emigration visa emigrate Visas visas