Religion- the Catholic Church use to be head over everything, even the government.
They were afraid of large numbers of Jews coming in from (in the case of the St. Louis) Germany. 900 people is a lot of people but it would only be the tip of the iceberg if people were allowed to cross the Atlantic and go into the United States. There was a quota of how many people could come in and the US wanted to keep to the quota system.
The United States (at the time of the St. Louis sailing) was neutral, so they also didn't want to endanger that neutrality.
Virginia
I need more words to post this answer so
<span>The Chinese have good respect for their ancestors and pay homage to them with gifts and foods at alters.</span><span>
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