Shortly after Arnold's arrival, Alfred had to leave Switzerland because his residence permit expired after his apprenticeship. The USA became the target of his emigration efforts. For the necessary guarantee, he asked his parents for advice and was able to establish contact with Sol Freudenthal in Baltimore. He organized the affidavit (a guarantee) for Alfred, so that nothing more stood in the way of his immigration to the USA.

In Baltimore, he first found a job as a carpenter. In 1939 he went to New York, where he found a job in a factory for shop fittings and met Edith Stein, whom he married on June 14, 1939.