Mark Hetfield counsels the Obama administration to undercut the smugglers by immediately announcing that it will accept applications, but only outside the United States, for humanitarian parole to reunite children with close relatives.
The statement, which was written by the refugee resettlement agency HIAS, calls on the government to “welcome the stranger” in dealing with those entering the United States through Mexico from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
In the statement, which was written by the refugee resettlement agency HIAS, the Jewish organizations call for a long term, holistic solution “that prioritizes safety and opportunity.”
Backed by a grant from the Jewish Coalition for Syrian Refugees in Jordan, Magnolia Turbidy, a program manager for International Operations at HIAS, spent 3 months aiding the resettlement of the most vulnerable of the 600,000 Syrian refugees currently living in Jordan.
Mark Hetfield released the following statement in response to President Obama's proposal to partially repeal the Torture Victims Protection Reauthorization Act to send home unaccompanied children arriving at the U.S. border.
The President and Congress have failed to provide adequate funding to house the tens of thousand of unaccompanied children coming to the U.S. to escape pervasive crime and violence in Central America. Their safety and well-being must be at the core of every policy decision in response to the ongoing humanitarian crisis on our southern border.
An estimated 80-90,000 unaccompanied alien children (UACs) are expected to cross the southern border of the U.S. by the end of the current fiscal year and as many as 140,000 may come next year. Their safety and well-being must be at the heart of every policy decision made in response to this humanitarian crisis.
What distinguishes today’s refugees from those of World War II is that many are not fleeing direct oppression by governments. Rather, they are running away from violent groups that governments are unwilling or unable to control.
Seventy-six years ago, Manfred Lindenbaum and his family became refugees, forced by the Nazis to leave their home in Germany. Last week, Lindenbaum, now 81, returned to Poland to retrace his family’s refugee odyssey. In partnership with HIAS, he hopes to raise money to help refugee children living at refugee camps in Chad.
Welcoming refugees to the United States is much more than life-saving humanitarian and foreign policy action—it also brings rich cultures and vast potential to our communities. In the run up to June 20th, World Refugee Day events across the country seek to raise awareness, highlight the many benefits refugees bring to their new cities, and meaningfully connect community members to one another.
