This article discusses the experiences of several thousand Jewish migrants from the Soviet Union who failed to adapt to life in Israel and moved to Western Europe during the 1970s and 1980s in an attempt to gain immigrant admission to Western countries. The difficult multi-year sojourn of these people in Europe (mainly in the Roman Metropolitan Area in Italy) highlights the nonlinear and precarious trajectories of emigration from the USSR as well as the political controversies that accompanied this population movement. At the center of analysis are the activities of Western and Israeli government agencies and international organizations that tried to restrict and inhibit the unexpected abandonment of the Israeli destination by ex-Soviet Jewish migrants. The article focuses on a contrast between the ideology and practice of transnational migrations in a divided world. Although the concepts of freedom, legality, and individual choice rhetorically framed the act of leaving the Soviet Union during the Cold War, in practice those benefits were not available to many migrants. Agencies routinely handled migrations on grounds of political calculation, in which the rights, freedoms, and well-being of the migrant were subordinated to policy objectives and institutional priorities, often without much regard for the law. The article pays special attention to the values, language, and mechanisms of political action that the former Soviet people employed in order to reach their goals in the unfamiliar Western world.

中文翻译：

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论跨国移民中的选择与自由：留守在欧洲的苏联犹太移民

本文讨论了 1970 年代和 80 年代数千名苏联犹太移民因未能适应以色列的生活而移居西欧以期获得西方国家移民许可的经历。这些人在欧洲（主要是在意大利的罗马都市区）艰难的多年逗留凸显了苏联移民的非线性和不稳定轨迹，以及伴随这一人口流动的政治争议。分析的核心是西方和以色列政府机构和国际组织的活动，这些机构试图限制和阻止前苏联犹太移民意外放弃以色列目的地。这篇文章着重于在分裂的世界中跨国移民的意识形态和实践之间的对比。尽管自由、合法性和个人选择的概念在口头上构成了冷战期间离开苏联的行为，但实际上许多移民并没有享受到这些好处。机构通常根据政治计算来处理移民问题，其中移民的权利、自由和福祉服从于政策目标和机构优先事项，往往不太考虑法律。这篇文章特别关注前苏联人民为在陌生的西方世界实现目标而采用的价值观、语言和政治行动机制。虽然个人选择在口头上构成了冷战期间离开苏联的行为，但实际上许多移民无法享受到这些好处。机构通常根据政治计算来处理移民问题，其中移民的权利、自由和福祉服从于政策目标和机构优先事项，往往不太考虑法律。这篇文章特别关注前苏联人民为在陌生的西方世界实现目标而采用的价值观、语言和政治行动机制。虽然个人选择在口头上构成了冷战期间离开苏联的行为，但实际上许多移民无法享受到这些好处。机构通常根据政治计算来处理移民问题，其中移民的权利、自由和福祉服从于政策目标和机构优先事项，往往不太考虑法律。这篇文章特别关注前苏联人民为在陌生的西方世界实现目标而采用的价值观、语言和政治行动机制。移民的福利和福祉服从于政策目标和制度优先事项，往往不怎么考虑法律。这篇文章特别关注前苏联人民为在陌生的西方世界实现目标而采用的价值观、语言和政治行动机制。移民的福利和福祉服从于政策目标和制度优先事项，往往不怎么考虑法律。这篇文章特别关注前苏联人民为在陌生的西方世界实现目标而采用的价值观、语言和政治行动机制。