All Stories

Feb 17, 2017

“Often refugees are defined by what they have lost, which is a lot," HIAS VP Melanie Nezer said in a recent Tedx talk on the global refugee crisis. "Their homes, their jobs, their communities, their friends and, in many cases, family members. But they also have a lot of things. They have hope. They have education. They have skills. And they have a great desire to live in peace.”

Feb 15, 2017

“After I lost my vision, there was nothing for me to do in Iraq. There, they don’t believe that a person with a disability is capable of doing anything,” Qusay said. “I can’t tolerate that. I can’t envision myself just sitting at home. My dreams are bigger than that.”

Feb 13, 2017

Winter weather couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm and commitment of the many thousands of people who showed up for the National Day of Jewish Action for Refugees on Sunday, February 12.

Feb 13, 2017

Equipped with protest signs, umbrellas and a tradition of welcoming the stranger, upwards of 1,000 rally goers stood for nearly two hours in Battery Park at the Southern tip of Manhattan Island.

Feb 7, 2017

In more than 135 years serving refugees, HIAS has routinely represented asylum seekers in court against the U.S. government. Never before, however, has HIAS itself sued the U.S. government, let alone the President of the United States. Until today.

Feb 6, 2017

Kapoor, a renowned British-Indian sculptor of Jewish descent, said he will dedicate his $1 million award to expanding the Jewish community’s engagement on the global refugee crisis.

Feb 6, 2017

Late Sunday night, HIAS filed an amicus brief in support of the plaintiffs in the case of Washington v. Trump, currently before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. “The Executive Order has fractured many refugee families whose safety and desire for unification were already fragile,” notes the brief.

Feb 3, 2017

HIAS VP of Community Engagement Rabbi Jennie Rosenn published an op-ed in Haaretz on Friday, February 3, calling on the Jewish community to stand up to President Trump’s refugee ban.

Feb 3, 2017

“Refugee status is not merely a stamp on paper; it's a state of mind and heart which forces one to risk it all for better life. We feel affinity and kinship to those in the same plight.”

Feb 3, 2017

After spending more than two years apart, a Syrian family was reunited today in dramatic fashion, with help from HIAS.