<P> Only the dismissal of most of the cases by Acting United States Secretary of Labor Louis Freeland Post limited the number of deportations to 556 . Fearful of extremist violence and revolution, the American public supported the raids . Civil libertarians, the radical left, and legal scholars raised protests . Officials at the Department of Labor, especially Post, asserted the rule of law in opposition to Palmer's anti-radical campaign . Post faced a Congressional threat to impeach or censure him . He successfully defended his actions in two days of testimony before the House Rules Committee in June 1919 and no action was ever taken against him . Palmer testified before the same committee, also for two days, and stood by the raids, arrests, and deportation program . Much of the press applauded Post's work at Labor, while Palmer, rather than President Wilson, was largely blamed for the negative aspects of the raids . </P> <P> On December 21, the Buford, a ship the press nicknamed the "Soviet Ark," left New York harbor with 249 deportees . Of those, 199 had been detained in the November Palmer Raids, with 184 of them deported because of their membership in the Union of Russian Workers, an anarchist group that was a primary target of the November raids . Others on board, including the well - known radical leaders Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman, had not been taken in the Palmer Raids . Goldman had been convicted in 1893 of "inciting to riot" and arrested on many other occasions . Berkman had served 14 years in prison for the attempted murder of industrialist Henry Clay Frick in 1892 . Both were convicted in 1917 of interfering with military recruitment . Some of the 249 were leftists or anarchists or at least fell within the legal definition of anarchist because they "believed that no government would be better for human society than any kind of government ." In beliefs they ranged from violent revolutionaries to pacifist advocates of non-resistance . Others belonged to radical organizations but disclaimed knowledge of the organization's political aims and had joined to take advantage of educational programs and social opportunities . </P> <P> The U.S. War Department used the Buford as a transport ship in the Spanish - American War and in World War I and loaned it to the Department of Labor in 1919 for the deportation mission . A "strong detachment of marines" numbering 58 enlisted men and four officers made the journey and pistols were distributed to the crew . Its final destination was unknown as it sailed under sealed orders . Even the captain only learned his final destination while in Kiel harbor for repairs, since the State Department found it difficult to make arrangements to land in Latvia . Finland, though chosen, was not an obvious choice, since Finland and Russia were at war . </P> <P> The notoriety of Goldman and Berkman as convicted anti-war agitators allowed the press and public to imagine that all the deportees had similar backgrounds . The New York Times called them all "Russian Reds ." Most of the press approved enthusiastically . The Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote: "It is hoped and expected that other vessels, larger, more commodious, carrying similar cargoes, will follow in her wake ." The New York Evening Mail said: "Just as the sailing of the Ark that Noah built was a pledge for the preservation of the human race, so the sailing of the Ark of the Soviet is a pledge for the preservation of America ." Goldman later wrote a book about her experiences after being deported to Russia, called My Disillusionment in Russia . </P>

Who was most affected by the red scare