On the eve of the 25th anniversary of the Refugee Act -- legislation that affirmed the United States’ commitment to protecting refugees -- the House of Representatives today placed an anti-refugee bill on a fast track to becoming law. Human Rights First strongly condemns the House leadership’s decision to attach the REAL ID Act to the emergency spending bill on Iraq and tsunami aid as a serious threat to refugees seeking protection from persecution in the United States.
“It is a sad irony that as we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the historic law that cements U.S. commitment to protecting refugees in dire need of safe haven, the House bill drastically undermines those core principles,” said Cory Smith, Legislative Counsel for Human Rights First. “A quarter-century ago, the United States reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring that we would keep our doors open to those fleeing religious, ethnic, and other persecution. But that time-honored commitment is seriously undermined by the REAL ID Act.”
By incorporating the REAL ID Act into the emergency spending bill [H.R. 1268], the House Leadership is seeking to press the Senate to accept anti-refugee provisions without sufficient consideration or debate.
“Attaching the anti-refugee provisions to an emergency measure not only jeopardizes badly needed support for our troops and tsunami victims, but also harms refugees fleeing torture, forced abortions, honor killings and other horrific violence,” Smith noted.
The bill, if enacted, would make it much harder for refugees to prove that they qualify for asylum; it would also prevent a U.S. federal court from stopping a refugee’s deportation to the country where she fears harm while the court decides her case. As a result, U.S. law would allow an immigration judge to deny asylum to a woman who had been raped by soldiers because of her religious beliefs if she had been unable to tell an armed male airport inspector about the rape, but later told the judge. The woman could then be deported back into the hands of her persecutors even though her asylum claim was still pending before a U.S. federal court.
Human Rights First calls upon the Senate to remove the anti-refugee language of the REAL ID Act from the emergency spending bill. Human Rights First will continue to work with a broad coalition of human rights groups, faith-based organizations, civil liberties groups and a bipartisan group of Congressional leaders to defeat the anti-asylum provisions in this legislation.
“Lives literally hang in the balance, and we now look to the Senate for leadership to ensure the protection of vulnerable refugees,” added Smith.
