Because the French administration in Algeria proved unwilling to reverse the antisemitic measures of the Vichy regime, North African Jews turned to public opinion, enlisting the help of Jewish organizations in the United States and the U.S. press. In the wake of a strong public outcry against Allied collaboration with Francois Darlan and President Roosevelt's strongly worded speech on November 17, 1942, pressure increased for the immediate repeal of all discriminatory laws decreed by the Vichy regime, and for the release of people imprisoned for opposing or disobeying such laws. Editorials followed in newspapers, such as the New York Times, calling for the abolition of racial laws, support of de Gaulle, and the recall of Roosevelt's special advisor for North Africa, Robert Murphy, who was associated with broken promises of support to the Gaullists in North Africa.

Finally, on March 14, 1943, General Henri Giraud, who took over as High Commissioner for French North Africa after the assassination of Darlan on Christmas Eve in 1942, gave a speech formally repudiating the Vichy regime and abolishing its racist, discriminatory legislation which, Giraud falsely claimed, Nazi Germany had imposed on France. Giraud maintained the abrogation of the Crémieux Decree, claiming that it unfairly differentiated between the native Muslims and Jews. It took several more months, much lobbying by the World Jewish Congress, the American Jewish Congress, and the French Committee for National Liberation, and ultimately the arrival of General de Gaulle in Algiers, before the Crémieux Decree was reinstated on October 20, 1943.