Jewish Community Letter on
Asylum Provisions in 9/11 Legislation
Note: This letter was sent to all Senate and House conferees on the
9/11 Commission Report implementing legislation (S. 2845/H.R. 10).
October 19, 2004
Dear Conferee:
Inspired by the Jewish religious and ethical tradition, the American
Jewish Community has long championed America's role as a safe haven for
refugees, asylees and other vulnerable migrants. Over the years, hundreds of
thousands of Jews have also benefited from U.S. refugee protection. We
therefore write today to urge you to protect vulnerable immigrants,
refugees, asylees, torture victims, and women and children fleeing human
trafficking in the final version of the 9/11 Commission Report implementing
legislation.
The bipartisan 9/11 Commission challenged Congress to act quickly and
implement their recommendations to protect America's national security. We
strongly support timely action to reform government institutions to meet the
challenges outlined by the bipartisan 9/11 commission. While we believe
immigration reform measures need to be addressed by Congress to enhance both
the humanitarian and security components of various aspects of our
immigration system, we are greatly concerned that the intelligence reform
process will be undermined by controversial efforts to include extraneous
immigration provisions from H.R. 10 in the final version of the legislation.
Of particular concern are the sections of the bill that are most
detrimental to asylum seekers and other humanitarian migrants, including
provisions to: require deportation without a court hearing for many
non-citizens who have been in the country for less than five years; expand
procedural hurdles for political asylum applicants; deprive asylum seekers
and torture victims of habeas corpus petitions if they are detained and
stays of removal to their country's of persecution while their cases are
appealed; mandate indefinite detention or deportation of many individuals
who are in danger of torture in their home country; and permit deportation
of refugees and others to countries without functioning governments where
they are in danger of suffering human rights abuses.
In addition to our principled support for the political asylum system, we
believe that changes envisioned in H.R. 10 could have a significantly
negative impact on Jewish asylum seekers. While statistics do not provide
exact data on the number of Jews requesting asylum, in 2003 approximately
3,050 individuals were granted asylum who fled the former Soviet Union and
Iran - the two principal sources of Jewish refugees. This figure is over 10%
of the entire number of victims of persecution worldwide who received
political asylum (26,388).
As you work to draft the final compromise version of the 9/11 Commission
implementation legislation, we urge you to protect these vulnerable
migrants, including by omitting sections 3007, 3008, 3010, 3032 and 3033
from H.R. 10. By focusing on the core issue of intelligence reform, and not
including the immigration provisions, this legislation can meet the
challenge presented by the 9/11 Commission.
Sincerely,
Rabbi Abba Cohen
Director and Counsel, Washington Office
Agudath Israel of America
Richard T. Foltin
Legislative Director and Counsel
American Jewish Committee
Jess N. Hordes
Washington Director
Anti-Defamation League
Daniel S. Mariaschin
Executive Vice President
B'nai B'rith International
Leonard Glickman
President & CEO
Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society
Judith Bernstein-Baker
Executive Director
HIAS and Council Migration Service of Philadelphia
Sheila Decter
Executive Director
Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action (JALSA)
Reva Price
Washington Director
Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Avram Lyon
Executive Director
Jewish Labor Commitee
Mark B. Levin
Executive Director
NCSJ: Advocates on Behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States &
Eurasia
Marsha Atkind
President
National Council of Jewish Women
Ron Soloway
Managing Director, Government and External Relations
UJA-Federation of New York
Robert Kestenbaum
Executive Director
Workmen's Circle/Arbeter Ring
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