Nobody knows the importance of the refugee resettlement system better than former congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman, who co-authored the Refugee Act of 1980 and helped establish the modern American system for welcoming the displaced.
Forty years ago, in the highest expression of the American spirit, Congress passed the Refugee Act of 1980, landmark legislation that established the U.S. refugee resettlement program and asylum system.
SILVER SPRING, Md. – Today the Trump administration extended the reach of the travel ban to the United States, adding new restrictions on people coming from Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sudan, and Tanzania.
(Greenbelt, MD) – Today, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction in the lawsuit HIAS v. Trump, blocking an executive order that for the first time in the history of the U.S. refugee resettlement program gave state and local officials the power to veto resettlement in their jurisdictions. The judge ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, three faith-based resettlement agencies, HIAS, Church World Service (CWS), and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS), whose work and mission have been directly impacted and harmed by the order.
The Trump administration last week announced a proposed refugee resettlement ceiling of 18,000 for Fiscal Year 2020, a 40% cut from last year’s number amidst the largest global refugee crisis in recorded history.
More than 1400 Jewish clergy members signed a petition calling on elected officials to protect the legal right to seek asylum in the U.S., and on July 18, a delegation of rabbis, attorneys, and advocates went to Capitol Hill to deliver it to key members of Congress.
Sometimes you have to see things for yourself and that is just what 27 leaders from 17 national Jewish organizations did on August 21-22 as part of a HIAS-ADL led delegation to view firsthand the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border.
