Governments establish immigration quotas in order to limit the numbers of particular groups of people who can be admitted into a nation. Before and during World War II, governments around the world had tightened immigration policies in response to isolationist and nationalist movements which prevailed during that time. This made it difficult, and frequently impossible, for refugees to escape from Germany and other countries under Nazi or fascist control.
In the 1930s, the United States established strict immigration controls. Prospective immigrants lucky enough to obtain U.S. visas had to pass financial tests and obtain certificates of good conduct from local police authorities. In the case of German Jews, this meant obtaining good conduct papers from the Gestapo. No special exceptions were made for refugees fleeing persecution — and after 1939, German Jews were specifically barred from the United States as potential German spies.
The British government similarly limited the numbers of European Jews who could emigrate to Great Britain or to Palestine. Canada’s immigration policies were even more restrictive. In the early 1930s, around 80,000 Jewish refugees were able to immigrate to Mexico, Argentina, Costa Rica, Brazil, Cuba, and Colombia. Skilled individuals such as doctors were initially welcomed, but deteriorating economic and political conditions ultimately closed Latin American borders as well.
