After Kristallnacht in 1938 , Roosevelt helped expedite Jewish immigration from Germany and allowed Austrian and German citizens already in the United States to stay indefinitely . He was prevented from accepting more Jewish immigrants by the prevalence of nativism and antisemitism among voters and members of Congress , resistance in the American Jewish community to the acceptance of Eastern European Jewish immigrants , and the restrictive Immigration Act of 1924 . The Immigration Act of 1924 allowed only 150,000 immigrants to the United States per year and set firm quotas for each country , and in midst of the Great Depression there was little popular support for revisions to the law that would allow for a more liberal immigration policy . Roosevelt pushed the limits of his executive authority where possible , which allowed for several Austrian and German Jews , including Albert Einstein , to escape from Europe or remain in the United States past their visa expiration
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht
Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, third and fourth terms