Law Aiding Iranian Religious Refugees Extended for Another Year
—A law facilitating resettlement for Iranian religious minorities, including Jews, seeking refuge was extended for another year.
The language, known as the Lautenberg amendment, was included in the massive spending bill passed by Congress and signed this week into law by President Barack Obama.
“The Lautenberg amendment has served as a lifeline for over two decades to tens of thousands of Jewish, Christian, Baha’i, and other religious minorities fleeing Iran and the Former Soviet Union,” Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., a Jewish congressman who sponsored the language, said in a statement.
“Without it, there would be no recourse or refuge for many of these individuals,” Schiff said. “I am pleased that Congress supported my request for its extension, which will continue to provide a beacon of hope for those seeking safety from discrimination and abuse solely for their religious beliefs.”
The law, which loosens tough refugee status standards for designated persecuted religious minorities, is named for the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., who crafted it in the late 1980s to assist Jews seeking a path out of the Soviet Union.
In addition to assisting religious minorities in the former Soviet Union and Iran, it has also been used to assist refugees leaving Vietnam, Cambodia and other countries where religious practice has become an obstacle to equal status.
The language must be renewed with each year’s budget. HIAS, the Jewish group that leads community advocacy on immigration issues, has in recent years attempted to convince Congress to make the law permanent.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.
If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.
Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
