Soviet Refugees Expected to Bypass Orange County

Representatives of agencies that help Soviet refugees learn English and find jobs said Friday that they are bracing for a dramatic increase in the number of new immigrants moving to the Southland in the next year as a result of the Soviet Union’s perestroika policy.

The projected increase in Soviet immigrants to the United States, mostly Jewish and Armenian--from fewer than 800 in 1986 to as many as 150,000 from now to the end of 1990--comes as Congress considers cuts in refugee assistance programs in its 1989-90 fiscal budget, according to testimony Friday before a state legislative committee on refugee resettlement.

“The strain of additional refugees is one that we welcome, something that we have been working toward for years,” said Wayne Feinstein, vice president of the Jewish Federation Council in Los Angeles. “But we’ve had a steady flow in the past and we are not prepared for the gates of the Soviet Union to open as wide as they have.”

Of the surge of Soviet emigres, Orange County is expecting only about 100 Jews from the Soviet Union, said Chelle Friedman, a spokeswoman for the Jewish Federation of Orange County.

“There’s no real center of Jewish population in Orange County, so many don’t even think about coming here,” Friedman said. Most new immigrants head for Los Angeles, she said. Still, about 100,000 Jews live in Orange County, Friedman said.

Armenians leaving the Soviet Union face the same in Orange County: There is no central community, said John Kossakian, general manager of The Armenian Reporter in Glendale, where many newly arrived Armenians find a home upon arriving in Southern California.

“Most of the immigrants have friends and relatives in Hollywood or Glendale,” Kossakian said. He said he expects only a small number to move to Orange County, where there are only about 20,000 Armenians, he said.

Feinstein said the Jewish Federation Council and its affiliates will spend about $20 million next year in public and private funds to assist Soviet refugees with counseling, medical care, education and job training.

The council expects to help about 5,000 Soviet refugees next year, compared to 1,800 this year, said Sandra King, executive director of the Los Angeles Jewish Family Services.

More than 100,000 Soviet immigrants could arrive in the United States in 1990, said Gregory Makaron, president of the Los Angeles Assn. of Soviet Jewish Emigres and himself a former refusenik.

Since 1987, most Soviet Armenians and about 10% of the Soviet Jews coming to the United States have settled in Los Angeles County, county officials said. Under its reform program, Moscow has taken away many restrictions against moving to the United States.