Image by Getty Images

Echoing a slate of Jewish groups, President Barack Obama likened Syrian refugees to Jewish refugees in the 1930s.

“Scripture tells us, ‘For we are strangers before you, and sojourners, as were all our fathers, we are strangers before you,’” Obama said Tuesday at a naturalization ceremony at the National Archives.

“In the Mexican immigrant today, we see the Catholic immigrant of a century ago,” Obama said.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

“In the Syrian seeking refuge today, we should see the Jewish refugee of World War II,” he said. “In these new Americans, we see our own American stories — our parents, our grandparents, our aunts, our uncles, our cousins who packed up what they could and scraped together what they had.”

A range of Jewish groups, including those representing all the major Jewish religious streams, have recalled Jewish refugees from Nazi Europe denied entry into the United States in calling on the government to allow in refugees from Syria’s civil war.

Obama, who plans to bring in 10,000 Syrians over the next year, praised the Jewish groups for their support at White House Hanukkah celebrations earlier this month.

Most Republicans oppose the refugee resettlement.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount