HIAS: REAL ID Act Would Further Restrict Victims of Persecution, Including Jews

Posted on Thu, Jan 27, 2005 at 15:35 pm

(New York, NY) – The bill proposed yesterday by House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.) would mean people fleeing religious persecution, including Jews, would have an even more difficult time finding safe haven in America, say officials at HIAS, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society.

“The REAL ID legislation would make it much more difficult for victims of religious and other types of persecution to find safe haven in the United States through the asylum system,” says Gideon Aronoff, vice president for government relations and public policy at HIAS. “We support effective immigration enforcement and measures to increase our national security, but the REAL ID Act would not accomplish that. In fact, it would inflict serious hardship on victims of persecution, torture, and trauma, who rightly look to the U.S. as a beacon of hope.”

The U.S. asylum system already contains a number of safeguards and security checks to thoroughly screen all applicants, and terrorists are statutorily barred from gaining asylum, explains Aronoff.

“We have to oppose this ill-conceived legislation because the changes proposed by the REAL ID Act would allow credible asylum cases to be denied. We fear that this bill may be rushed through Congress by attaching it to a 'must-pass' legislation to provide support to our troops in Iraq, or to assist victims of the tsunami in Southeast Asia. We strongly oppose such a move, as it would prevent debate on the actual content of the REAL ID Act.”

HIAS, along with a number of local Jewish other national organizations, has in recent years advocated for comprehensive immigration reform, and last year called upon the White House to convene a panel to address the issue.

“Security plays an important role in effective immigration reform,” says Aronoff. “Measures must be developed to ensure that the small numbers of individuals who seek to enter the U.S. to do us harm are apprehended. At the same time, our immigration laws must reflect the reality that the vast majority of immigrants come to the U.S. to fill essential jobs and support their families back home. The task that lies before the President and Congress now is to develop sensible and secure immigration policies without compromising our nation’s proud tradition of protecting the oppressed and welcoming immigrants.”