The Baltimore Jewish Times ran a story by reporter Melissa Gerr about the ongoing Syrian refugee crisis on January 29, 2016. The story quotes HIAS President and CEO Mark Hetfield, who told Gerr, "if people are committed to protect refugees just because they look like they do or worship like they do, that won’t really lead to anybody being protected. So we have to stand up for everybody.”
"America has been through big changes before ...Each time, there have been those who told us to fear the future; who claimed we could slam the brakes on change, promising to restore past glory if we just got some group or idea that was threatening America under control. And each time, we overcame those fears."
A barber. A tailor. A carpenter. Elementary and pre-school kids. Just a few of the Syrian refugees HIAS President Mark Hetfield met on a recent visit to Toledo, Ohio.
Zachary Raney came home from Rosh Hashanah services at Judea Reform Congregation in Durham, North Carolina with a light in his eyes. His rabbi, Larry Bach, had given a sermon about the refugee crisis in Syria and how thousands of children were being affected. As Jews, Rabbi Bach said, we have an obligation to help.
In Ohio, despite Gov. John Kasich’s anti-refugee stance, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson issued a statement saying, "the City of Cleveland has always opened her arms to refugees, regardless of where they are from." The Cleveland City Council also weighed in, passing an emergency resolution “to reiterate that all refugees, regardless of faith or country of origin are welcome in the City of Cleveland.”
Randa Alsafi, who is now a case manager for JFCS East Bay, came to the United States as an immigrant from Syria in 2003. “I am proud to serve newly arrived refugees, helping people from traumatic situations be able to live in a safer place,” Alsafi said.
“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.
When Governor Hogan announced that he didn’t want any more Syrian refugees resettled in Maryland, it got the attention of many Syrian-Americans who call the state home. HIAS, the Anti-Defamation League and others held a press conference in front of the State Capitol in Annapolis on Monday in support of continuing to welcome Syrian refugees into the state.
On Thursday the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that, if put into law, would restrict resettlement of Syrians and Iraqis refugees fleeing tyranny and terror in their home countries. “Our concern is that this adds a huge layer of bureaucracy to an already bureaucratic process,” Nezer told The Atlantic. “This is just going to cause delays that could take years.”
On Thursday November 19, HIAS President and CEO Mark Hetfield testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee on the Syrian refugee crisis and its impact on the security of the U.S. refugee Admissions Program.
