“I just think that this is really a matter of values when you come right down to it, and I think our country is enriched by refugees like my grandfather,” said Senator Al Franken (D-MN). “I think we have to do a gut check here, and see who we are as a people.”
In advance of a September 28, 2016, congressional hearing on the Obama administration's plans for the U.S. refugee resettlement program for fiscal year 2017, HIAS submitted a statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest.
“These young people were looking to talk about their lives, their dreams and their experiences as refugees. We thought that photography was a good way to tell these stories,” said HIAS Psychologist Cesar Torres. The exhibition, held at one of the largest theaters in the area, featured the work of six refugee youth following seven months of training and artistic development.
Former HIAS client, Kindertransport survivor and refugee advocate Manfred Lindenbaum was interviewed live on Democracy Now!, sharing his personal experiences as a refugee and responding to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s son’s comparison of Syrian refugees to poisoned Skittles.
"As rabbis, we believe that every life is sacred, and every person is created in the image of God. Our biblical tradition teaches us to 'welcome the stranger' with compassion, and to care for those in need. We strongly support refugee resettlement in our local communities, and we call on you to uphold the legacy of a country and state that welcomes refugees."
Speaking to assembled world leaders at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, President Obama called for empathy for the “innocent men and women and children, who, through no fault of their own, have had to flee everything that they know, and everything that they love.”
HIAS “has become known as the U.S. Jewish community’s voice on refugee issues,” mobilizing the Jewish community around the refugee crisis, writes the Jerusalem Post.
Ahead of this week's refugee summits, HIAS President and CEO Mark Hetfield took to the pages of USA Today to argue that, “now is the time for the world to recommit to the ideals and promises of the Refugee Convention.”
More than 200 people, including representatives from over 50 synagogues and communal organizations, gathered at HIAS' #JewsforRefugees Assembly in New York Wednesday evening to call for stronger international leadership to alleviate the global refugee crisis.
Ahead of two momentous summits on the global refugee crisis, HIAS CEO and Pres Mark Hetfield and VP of Policy and Advocacy Melanie Nezer briefed foreign press at the New York Foreign Press Center of the U.S. Dept. of State.
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