Passengers aboard the MS St. Louis, 1939, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Thesis

Following World War I, the United States implemented immigration quotas to quell economic and social fears. Anti-Semitism grew in proportion to the impact of the Great Depression. The Wagner-Rogers Congressional Bill of 1939 proposed admitting 20,000 additional German children into the U.S. Lack of diplomatic action and productive debate resulted in Congress’ failure to support the bill, engendering a 1944 Cabinet report shaming the U.S. into forming the War Refugee Board.