DOCUMENT RESUME ED 206 779 OD 021 643 AUTHOR Moore, Charlotte J. TITLE Review of U.S. Refugee Resettlement Programs and Policies. A Report. Revised. INSTITUT:ON Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Congressional Research Service. REPORT NO SR-052-070-05409-3 PUB DATE 80 NOTE 350p.: Prepared at the request of Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary United States Senate by the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, 96th Congress, 2nd Session. Not available in paper copy due to reproduction quality of original document. AVAILABLE FROM Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402 ($6.50). EDRS PRICE MF01 Plus Postage. PC Not Available from EDRS. DESCRIPTORS Cubans: *Federal Legislation: *Federal Programs: *Immigrants: Indochinese: *Land Settlement; *Refugees: *Relocation: Social Services IDENTIFIERS Chileans: Hungarians: Kurds: Russians ABSTRACT This government report reviews U.S. refugee resettlement programs and policies. Part I of the book provides an overview of b.S. refugee admissions programs and discusses refugee admissions policies for two time frames: 1945 to 1965, and 1965 to the present. In Part II an analysis of Federal assistance programs for do'estic resettlement of refugees is found. This section describes assistance offered to refugees resettling in the U.S. and the legislation and programs authorizing such assistance. The Refugee Act of 1980 is covered in Part III. Major issues of the act are outlined along with its legislative history. The section concludes with a section-by-section summary of the Act. Appendices contain the complete text of the 1980 Refugee Act, a conference report and analysis of the Act, and a report on refugee resettlement in the U.S. by the TransCentury Foundation. The TransCentary report presents information regarding the Cuban, Hungarian, Indochinese, Chilean, Kurdish, and Soviet resettlement efforts, resettlement organizations, the needs of refugees, and resettlement models of other western nations. Recommendations are offered and suggestions are made for refocusing efforts in some areas. (ARM) *********************************************************************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * 1.8 from the original document. * *********************************************************************** 06th Congress COMMITTEE PRINT 26 Session J REVIEW OF U.S. REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT CV P p PROGRAMS AND POLICIES LLI ' A REPORT PREPARED AT THEREQUEST OF' Senator EDWARD M. KENNEDY, Chaim('n COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY UNITED STATES SENATE BY THE CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS NINETY-SIXTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION U.S. OEPAIITIAIMIT OF EDUCATION NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) VC/hes document has been reproduced as received from the person of orgammoon originating it Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality Points of we*, or opinions stated in this docu ment do not necessarily represent official NIE position or polo a S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WHO I WASHINGTON IIIRO 0114 I or sale tip the Stiperintetolent of Itoruments.U.S Government Printing Office Widangton, D (' 20402 qw4 4 COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY EDWARD M. KENNEDY, Massachusetts, Chairman BIRCH BAYS, Indiana STROM THURMOND, South Carolina ROBERT C. BYRD, West Virginia CHARLES McC. MATHIAS, JI., Maryland JOSEPH It. BIDEN, Ja., Delaware PAUL LAXALT, Nevada JOHN C. CULVER, Iowa ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah HOWARD M. METZENBAUhi, Ohio ROBERT DOLE, Kansas DENNIS DECONCINI, Arizona THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont ALAN K. SIMPSON, Wyoming MAX BAUCUS, Montana HOWELL HEFLIN, Alabama 8TrPHNN Baryca, Chief Counted Milner Stizatmn, Minority Chk f Counsel Jemmy H. TINKER. Counsel for Immigration andRefugee Affair* (II) a FOREWORD America has been a haven for the world's homelesssince the first colonists reached theseshores four centuries American people have ago. Since then, the a record of accomplishment inoffering a help- ing hand to refugeesthat is unsurpassed byany other nation. We can be proud of thisrecord. Over manyyears we have responded generously and compassionatelyto the needs of the homeless, national policy of welcome and our well. has served our country andour traditions But for too longour policy toward refugee assistance ment lacked effective programing and resettle- and planning. We admittedrefugees in fits and starts becauseour immigration law was inadequate out of date. Once refugees and arrived, our resettlementprograms and policies were inconsistentand out of touch with today's To bring some long overdue needs. reform to our eountry's refugeepolicies and programs, Congresshas enacted "The Refugee stated in the first title Act of 1980." ks of the act, the objectives ofthe act were "to provide a permanent andsystematic procedure for this country of refugees the admission to of special humanitarianconcern to the United States, and to providecomprehensive and uniform effective resettlement and provisions for the admitted." absorption of those refugeeswho are The new law accomplishessix basic. objectives 1. It repeals the previous law's : by providing discriminatory treatment of refugees a new definition of a refugeemovingus away from only accepting refugees"from communism" Middle Eastto all who or certain areas of the meet the test of the 1' N.Convention and Protocol on the Status ofRefugees. 2. It raises the annual limitation on regular refugeeadmissions from 17,400 to 50,000 eachfiscal year. 3. It provides for an orderly but flexible procedureto deal with emergency refugee situations ii theresettlement needs of refugeesof "special humanitarian concern"to the United States cannot bemet within the rve-rillar ceilingestablished prior to the beg fiscal year. nning of the ,4. It replaces the former use of the "parole ant horits" containedin section 212(d) (5) of theImmigration and Nationality Actwhichhas been governed only bycustom and practice--withnew statutory lan- guage asserting congressional control(i.e., formal "const,ltations") over the entire process of admittingrefugees. 5. It establishesan explicit asylum provision in for the first time. oer immigration law 0. It provides for a full rangy of Federal programs to assist inthe resettlement process, and statutorilycreates the Office of Refugee Re- settlement to monitor, coordinate, programs. and implement refugee resettlement 4 IV Together, these provisions will enable the UnitedStates, to meet any refugee situation. anywhere. and to deal with it moreeffectively and efficiently. The new law ends years of ad hoc programsand differing policies toward different refugees. and puts ourrefugee programs on a firmer footing. To give some perspective to this new law. Iasked the Library of Congress to update an earlier study on V.S.refugee resettlement pro- grams. and to review forthe committee the evolution of U.S. refugee law and policy. revised edition of that study has now beensubmitted to the committee by theCongressional Research Service and is ',tinted in this volume, along with other backgroundmaterial on refugee pro- grams and policies. The committee hopes this report will contribute to abetter public understanding of U.S. refugee programs. EDWARD NI. KENNEDY. rthil e. ColllInith I Mt the 12/41iria ry. LETTER OF SUBMITTAL CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE, THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, August 8, 1980. Senator EDWARD M. KENNEDY. U.S. Senate, W ash,ington, D.0. DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: I am pleased to submit a reporton U.S. refu- gee resettlement law and policy whichwas preparedatyour request by the Congressional ResearchService. The report was written byCharlotte J. Moore, analyst in social legislation, ofour Education and Public Welfare Division.It is a revised and updated version ofa 1979 CRS paper of the same title by Catherine McHugh. Since thattime, major legislation, the Refugee Act of 1980, was enacted by Congress. Ms. Moore's update focuseson the development of the RefugeeAct in the context of past U.S. refugee admission and resettlementprograms and policies. We hope that this report willserve the needs of the Committeeon the Judiciary, as wellas the needs of other Committees and Members of Congress concerned withU.S. refugee policy. Sincerely, GI LBERT GUDE, Director. if CONTENTS Forward by SenatorKennedy Page Letter of Submittal TB Introduction v Part I. Overview of U.S. refugee admissionsprograms 1 1. Legislativeandadministrative 3 admissions: 1945-65_ actionsaffecting refugee A. Presidential directiveof December 22, 1945 7 B. Displaced PersonsAct of 1948 7 C. Immigration andNationality Act of 1952 7 1. Defector privision_ 7 2. Parole provision 8 3. Withholdingdeportation because of 8 persecution anticipated D. Act of July 29,1953 8 E. The Refugee ReliefAct of 1953 8 F. Hungarian refugeeprogram 8 G. Refugee-EscapeeAct 9 H. Act of September2, 1958 9 1. Refugee fair sharelaw 10 II. Refugee admissionslegislation and procedure 10 A. Conditional entry after 1965 11 B. Parole 11 C. Withholdingdeportation 12 D. Asylum 15 E. Special legislation 15 to refugees providing permanentresident status F. Other legislationimpacting on refugee 16 Part II. Federal assistancefor domestic resettlementadmissions. 17 I. Assistance torefugees resettling in the of refugees__ 19 it historical overview.. United States: A. The involvementof the private sector 19 B. Federal involvementin assisting refugee 19 1. State Department resettlement__ ___ _ 22 2. The DepartmentofHealth, 23 Welfare Education,and