The REAL ID Act, introduced by House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) on January 26, 2005, includes provisions that place refugees at an increased risk of persecution and erode this country’s historic commitment to protect those seeking safe haven.
The bill resurrects several controversial anti-immigrant and anti-refugee provisions dropped from the final version of the “Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004” in December 2004 due to widespread opposition. If enacted, the bill’s anti-refugee provisions would fundamentally change U.S. asylum law. Many refugees who have fled brutal human rights abuses -- including torture, rape, and other horrific violence -- will be barred from receiving asylum under these provisions.
“The REAL ID Act will place insurmountable burdens on already vulnerable asylum seekers by requiring unrealistic and unfair burdens of proof,” said Cory Smith, Legislative Counsel for Human Rights First. “For example, some refugees seeking asylum are unable to track down documentation from their persecutors because to do so would jeopardize the safety of family members left behind. This bill would deny asylum and deport a refugee who is unwilling to risk her family’s safety to meet this new burden.”
Representative Sensenbrenner and other proponents of the bill justify these changes in asylum law under the rubric of securing our country from terrorists who allegedly are abusing the asylum system. That claim is not supported by the facts, as current law already bars those who present a security risk from getting asylum.
“This bill does nothing to ensure America’s security,” said Smith. “Instead, it targets the most vulnerable – those fleeing repressive regimes – while doing nothing to make our nation safer. The irony is that many of these refugees are America’s friends, fighting abroad for democratic reform, risking their lives to further religious liberty and combating political extremism. When they and their families face torture or death, when their claims are credible, when they have cleared exhaustive security checks, America should be opening her doors, not closing them.”
The REAL ID Act has direct life and death consequences for genuine refugees. The bill places many refugees, including those fleeing religious and political persecution, at risk of being returned to their torturers or to death. A broad coalition of faith-based organizations, including the Episcopal Migration Ministries, Jesuit Refugee Service, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, and World Relief, have expressed serious concern that the REAL ID Act will severely harm refugees fleeing religious based persecution.
Human Rights First calls upon Congress to oppose the anti-refugee provisions in the REAL ID Act. We are mobilizing to fight the REAL ID Act provisions that harm refugees – working with a broad coalition of human rights groups, religious organizations and civil liberties groups, and a bipartisan group of Congressional leaders who remain committed to protecting vulnerable refugees.
