The Refugee Program Integrity Restoration Act would, for no good reason, simply make life harder for refugees who have already endured hardship and tragedy, losing homes, loved ones, and the lives they knew, and have met the rigorous requirements to be resettled in the U.S.
“Children with attorneys are more likely to be granted protection,” said HIAS Policy Counsel Britanny Vanderhoof. Yet, one study found that only about a third of unaccompanied children with cases pending in Immigration Court were represented by an attorney.
I am on Capitol Hill right now along with not only other HIAS staff but with representatives from many of the top NGOs working on refugee issues. We're here, pounding the pavement and filling the halls of the various House and Senate office buildings, for two days of intense advocacy organized by Refugee Council USA, a coalition of 20 U.S.-based refugee protection NGOs.
"Even though I am only 9 years old, unfortunately I know about not such great things happening in the world. My parents told me about the war in Syria and about how there are many refugees not just coming from there. I did some research and really wanted to help," Aviva wrote.
HIAS submitted the following statement into the Congressional Record for the House Judiciary Committee's Immigration and Border Security Subcommittee hearing on Central American migrants on February 4, 2016.
My Zayda, Manfred, became a refugee at age six when the Nazis forced him, his family, and thousands of other Polish Jews out of Germany in the fall of 1938. For the last 77 years of his life, Zayda has made it his mission to fight against hatred and teach all of us the danger of being a bystander.
In November, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the American Security Against Foreign Enemies Act of 2015, otherwise known as the American SAFE Act. This week, the Senate will consider this legislation.
Last week President Obama signed into law a massive $1.1 trillion bill to fund the government. Nestled deep in the bill was a small provision that makes a world of difference to families who are persecuted due to their religious beliefs.
“More than 1,000 rabbis in the United States signed onto a letter urging elected officials in the country to ‘exercise moral leadership for the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program’,” as The Washington Post reports today.
A group of more than 80 refugee and immigration law experts, humanitarian aid organizations, faith, labor and civil and human rights groups sent a letter to members of the U.S. House and Senate on Tuesday, urging them to "demonstrate leadership by speaking out against the scapegoating of any group."
