Record Influx of Soviet Jews Arrives in U.S.
NEW YORK — The largest group of Jewish refugees to come to the United States in a single day in more than 40 years landed in time to celebrate the Jewish New Year.
John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York was the scene of emotional reunions Thursday as the Soviet refugees, including 1,350 Jews and 250 Pentecostal and Evangelical Christians, arrived to take advantage of a processing policy that ended at midnight Friday.
New U.S. policies will mean longer waits for Soviet emigrants at a time when the Soviet Union is allowing record numbers to leave.
Instead of being processed in Europe, as in the past, the refugees’ paper work will be handled at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.
Many of the arriving refugees Thursday had been among 14,000 Soviet Jews waiting in Rome for final processing.
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