Finally. after many years of hard work. our efforts are paying off. In 1986. nearly 20.000 Soviet Jews were permitted to leave the Soviet Union. This year. emigration figures are expected to rise even higher. perhaps to 30.000. I am proud that my own adopted refusenik family. the Kazakevich family from Leningrad. recently received permission and should be emigrating for Israel any day. However. we should not lose sight of the fact that over 7.000 longterm refuseniks are denied permission for arbitrary reasons. That the number of "poor relatives" grows every daythose who cannot even apply because a family member claims financial hold over them. That people are denied visas for vague reasons such as "state secrets" or because a family member may have knowledge of "state secrets." Furthermore. the vigil focuses attention on the debate in Congress of how the United States Government should respond to Soviet progress on emigration and human rights. What is appropriate? Should we ease trade restrictions. such as the JacksonVanik and Stevenson amendments. or waive them entirely?
Keywords matched
emigration emigrating visas