Question

Why was the United Stayes willing to accept only a limited number of of Jewish refugees?

Answer 1

The State Department had been actively assisting Jewish refugees. The initial opposition was due to feelings that the U.S. had already done a great deal.

Explanation:

It was a long, involved process, with many changes. The initial opposition was due to feelings that the U.S. had already done a great deal.

Assistant Secretary of State Breckinridge Long testified before Congress in hearings on the resolution, claiming that the State Department had been actively assisting Jewish refugees. Long said that the United States had admitted 580,000 refugees since 1933.
https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007094

Growing anti-immigration feelings in the United States at this time resulted in the National Origins Quota of 1924, which severely restricted immigration from Eastern Europe after that time. The Jewish community took the lead in opposing immigration restrictions, which remained in effect until 1965.
https://www.holocaustcenter.org/file/Immigration.pdf