Frequently Asked Questions
Please read our responses below to some of the frequently asked questions (FAQs) we get at HIAS.
General FAQs
There are more than 122 million people who have been forced to flee their homes due to 1) war, political conflict, and violence; 2) persecution for their race, religion, nationality, or another identifying factor; and 3) climate change and natural disasters. That amounts to one in every 17 people on the planet. Regardless of why and how someone has been forced to flee, all people deserve to be treated with dignity and granted access to their human rights of protection and safety.
Refugees are unable to return to their home country because of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion. They often live in refugee camps or urban settings. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and national governments determine if a person qualifies as a refugee. If given status, refugees are granted legal protection under international law.
Like refugees, asylum seekers are unable to return home based on persecution. However, they do not have refugee status. Asylum seekers must navigate complex legal processes to prove their need for protection — most will not be granted asylum, and success depends on country laws and individual circumstances. If status is granted, asylees are usually granted all the same rights as refugees.
Internally Displaced People (IDPs) have been forced to flee their homes, but they haven’t crossed an international border. Many people with this status are fleeing persecution, armed conflict, human rights violations, and increasingly, climate change. More than half of all displaced people worldwide are internally displaced.
Stateless people are not recognized by any country as citizens. Without citizenship, they are routinely denied the rights most people take for granted, including education, healthcare, employment, housing, marriage, freedom of movement, and political participation.
After the horrors of World War II and the Holocaust, the world came together to create the 1951 Refugee Convention. The Refugee Convention and its 1967 Global Protocol are global agreements that define who a refugee is and outline their rights to housing, work, education, and more. The convention also details the responsibilities of countries to protect those forced to flee. Without this convention, millions fleeing war and persecution might have nowhere safe to go. It’s the cornerstone of refugee protection.
The most important rule in the Refugee Convention is non-refoulement — a life-saving principle that states no person should be forced to return to the danger they are fleeing. 149 countries have agreed to the 1951 Refugee Convention and/or the 1967 Protocols, safeguarding people forced to flee for 70+ years.
For more than a century, we have proudly and resolutely worked to achieve protection for displaced people, doing so from a place of deep grounding in Jewish values, history, text, and experience. We support displaced people through protection services, economic empowerment, and mental health care in the United States and around the world. With the Jewish community beside us, we stand up for the rights of displaced people globally.
Learn more about our work here.
HIAS was founded as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. As we expanded our mission to protect and assist refugees of all faiths and ethnicities, we realized our name no longer represented the organization. We are now known as HIAS, the international Jewish humanitarian organization that stands for a world in which displaced people find welcome, safety, and opportunity.
Today, most refugees aren’t Jewish, but HIAS still sees “welcoming the stranger” as a Jewish imperative. As we like to say, “we used to help refugees because they were Jewish; now we help refugees because we are Jewish.”
For Jews who face persecution, discrimination, or violations of religious freedom and whose safety and security are at risk, HIAS is still there to help. Under the Lautenberg Amendment, which originally allowed the resettlement of thousands of Jews from the former Soviet Union, HIAS works to help Jews and other religious minorities from certain designated countries.
However, the Trump Administration recently halted this lifesaving refugee pathway, and as a result more than 14,000 people experiencing religious discrimination and persecution remain stranded in Iran. HIAS will never stop fighting to ensure that Jews and other people experiencing persecution because of their faith can find the safety they need and deserve, including through the resumption of the Lautenberg program. Iranian religious minorities remain a priority in our advocacy, and we continue to press Congress and the administration to reopen lawful pathways to protection.
Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, HIAS has provided vital services in Europe and the U.S. to refugees from Ukraine, some of whom are Jewish. Synagogue members and Jewish clergy in the U.S. and several European countries are among those who have come together to form HIAS Welcome Circles to resettle refugees in new communities.
HIAS also works around the world to help Jews who seek to leave countries plagued by antisemitism for places where they can live openly, proudly, and safely. HIAS is always “on call” to Jewish communities who request our expert counsel to welcome Jewish newcomers in search of safety.
HIAS is pleased to provide you with these documents if we can locate them. Click here for more information about records search requests.
The Great Replacement Theory is an entirely false conspiracy theory embraced by white nationalists. It revolves around a plot to replace white European populations with non-white populations through immigration, birth rates, and increased political power. Proponents of the theory often (but not always) accuse Jews and Jewish organizations of orchestrating the influx of immigrants in order to shape electoral politics and “replace” the citizenry. This reflects long-standing antisemitic tropes about Jewish control and influence.
Those who promote the Great Replacement Theory often attack HIAS, depicting our efforts to aid those legally seeking asylum in the U.S. and resettle refugees as an “invasion” at the border. It was the primary motivation of the shooter in the Pittsburgh synagogue attack in 2018. In recent months, white nationalist activists and influencers have been knowingly sharing misinformation about HIAS in hopes of furthering their own xenophobic, antisemitic and/or racist agendas — as well as to drive profits by maximizing and monetizing outrage.
Learn more about the Great Replacement Theory here.
Learn how to combat xenophobia here.
We need your help to support refugees, asylum seekers, and displaced people around the world. You can get involved through these actions:
- Sign up for our email list
- Advocate for refugee rights
- Make a donation
- Attend an event
- Volunteer
- Learn more with our educational resources
- Engage your congregation or Jewish community
- Start a Welcome Circle
FAQs for Displaced People Seeking Assistance
HIAS might be able to assist you if you are located in one of the countries we work in and qualify for our services. Please contact us at info@hias.org so we can direct you to the right resources.
If you are located outside of our areas of work, unfortunately we cannot provide assistance at this time. Please contact the UNHCR office in your area for assistance.
HIAS’ services and programs are always free. If someone tries to charge you for services claiming they represent HIAS, please report this to HIAS at our confidential email address: ethics@hias.org. HIAS has a zero-tolerance policy on fraud and corruption.
If you are physically present in the United States, you may be eligible to request asylum in the U.S. For more information, see Form I-589 (Application for Asylum and Withholding of Removal), which can be found here. HIAS recommends that you consult an attorney or Department of Justice accredited representative at your own expense prior to filing an application for asylum.
HIAS provides legal assistance to persons of all nationalities, religions, and backgrounds in the New York City and Washington, D.C. regions, who are afraid to return to their home countries and who do not have the means to pay for legal representation through our attorneys and through pro bono volunteer attorneys.
Learn more about our legal services here.
Resettlement is a viable option for less than one percent of the 122 million people worldwide who have been forced to flee their homelands due to persecution based on their race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership of a particular social group. Historically, the United States has been among the world’s leaders in refugee resettlement, and this work lies at the heart of HIAS’ mission, as one of the 10 primarily faith-based organizations partnering with the federal government to help refugees rebuild their lives in the U.S.
However, since January 20, 2025, the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) has been suspended and dismantled. More than 125,000 refugees who were already vetted and approved to come to the United States have been left stranded in precarious situations overseas. The Trump Administration also plans to slash refugee admissions to a historic low of 7,500 people for the upcoming fiscal year. The few potentially available slots for Fiscal Year 2026 may not be available for the vulnerable refugees who were already approved for resettlement and instead may go to populations such as Afrikaners from South Africa.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and national governments determine if a person qualifies as a refugee. Once the U.S. vets and approves refugees, they are referred to one of the 10 national resettlement partners, such as HIAS. HIAS has no control over who is given refugee status and is only able to resettle refugees after the U.S. government approves them for resettlement and assigns them to HIAS and our local resettlement network for assistance.
The Lautenberg Amendment, first enacted in 1990 to facilitate the resettlement of Jews from the former Soviet Union, has allowed HIAS to bring tens of thousands of refugees to safety through the Resettlement Support Center (RSC) Austria. As the worldwide refugee situation changed, the Lautenberg Amendment, originally introduced by Senator Frank R. Lautenberg, was later expanded to include persecuted religious minorities, such as Jews, Christians, Baha’is, Sabaean-Mandaeans, and Zoroastrians from Iran. Despite being a crucial part of U.S. refugee policy, the amendment expires each year and must be reauthorized by the U.S. Congress.
However, the U.S. Department of State has terminated HIAS’ grant for RSC Austria, and therefore, the RSC is no longer active. The President of the United States has the authority to determine who may enter the United States each year as a refugee. President Trump has not made any provision in his annual Presidential Determination nor in his report to Congress to continue this program to resettle Iranian religious minorities to the United States.
As a result of this U.S. Government decision, a pipeline of over 14,000 Iranians in Iran will no longer be supported by HIAS through the work of RSC Austria.
Iranian Lautenberg applicants in the RSC Austria pipeline and their U.S. Ties must contact the U.S. Department of State Bureau for Population, Refugees, and Migration or their local U.S. Congressional representatives for information regarding the future of their refugee applications.
Please see additional information here: Lautenberg Program
HIAS does not provide sponsors. You should contact the nearest office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for information on resettlement options.
On July 4, 2025, President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) Act into law. The OBBB Act will have devastating consequences for immigrants, refugees, and American citizens. Breathtaking in its cruelty, the bill turbocharges the Trump administration’s draconian immigration enforcement and slashes federal benefits for refugees.
Learn more about what the OBBB Act will mean for immigrants in general here.
Learn more about what the OBBB Act will specifically mean for refugees, asylum seekers, and other displaced people in the U.S. here.
HIAS is proud to partner with Inclusive Communication Services to provide sign language (ASL) interpretation while working with our program participants.
Please visit our partner Inclusive Communication Services for more information.
HIAS is dedicated to maintaining the highest degree of ethical conduct among our staff, personnel, contractors, board members, consultants, volunteers, and others working on behalf of HIAS. We maintain a zero-tolerance policy towards any form of exploitation, abuse, or harm caused by our team members or as a result of our programming and are dedicated to ensuring that robust prevention and response measures are in place in all our work.
