WORLD BRIDGE BLOG

Refugees International is often called on to bring the struggles of displaced people into the halls of power where laws and policies are created that influence the conditions under which they live. Yesterday, RI’s president, Dan Glickman testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on proposed changes to U.S. asylum law.

Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) organized the hearing to discuss the Refugee Protection Act of 2010, a piece of legislation he introduced in March. Igor V. Timofeyev, former Special Advisor for Refugee and Asylum Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security and Patrick Giantonio, executive director of Vermont Immigration and Asylum Advocates also testified.

Dan Glickman opened his testimony by addressing implications of the bill for the estimated 4,000 million stateless people living in the United States. It is the first piece of U.S. legislation that proposes a comprehensive domestic remedy for the problem of stateless individuals – those who are not considered to be citizens under the laws of any country. A woman named Tatiana illustrates the way the problem plays out in the U.S. Tatiana was born in Russia and lived in Ukraine during Soviet times. She was persecuted for her political beliefs and fled to the U.S. shortly before the fall of the Soviet Union. Now, because of shifting nationality laws, neither country recognizes her as a citizen. She has been unable to gain asylum in the U.S. but without citizenship to any country, she cannot be returned anywhere. Tatiana continues to live in the U.S. under constant fear of being detained. The Refugee Protection Act of 2010 would allow her to gain lawful status here and to eventually apply for legal permanent residency.

Another of the bill’s provisions seeks to prevent newly resettled refugees from slipping into poverty by ensuring that the grants provided to help settle refugees in the U.S. cover the true costs involved. By treating those who are recognized as legitimate refugees with the support and protection that designation entails, we send a strong signal about our commitment to humanitarian principals that will be heard in the home countries of refugees who settled here.

All three witnesses invoked the United States’ proud heritage of providing sanctuary for people seeking conflict or persecution. However, more needs to be done. “Only one half of one percent of refugees are ever resettled anywhere and the United States is responsible for half of those resettlements,” said Dan Glickman. “This is something of which to be both proud and troubled. I’m here today to say that with the right kind of internal security measures in place, we can continue to provide safe haven to the world’s most venerable, to those whose homes have been pillaged and loved ones killed.”

Read the written testimony here