Refugee Act of 1980

United States Immigration Policy: A Decades-Old Conundrum
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United States Immigration Policy: A Decades-Old Conundrum

Authored by Casey L. Stiller

This scanned excerpt, written by Charles B. Keely and included in Mary M. Kritz’s U.S. Immigration and Refugee Policy, describes the challenges faced in changing United States immigration policy. Keely gives a brief overview of the current immigration climate within the United States in the early 1980’s.

There have been three major migration periods in the United States in the last century: a largely laissez faire outlook in the 1930s; the Bracero Program, in effect during and after World War II; and, following the elimination of the Bracero Program, passage of major immigration laws in 1965 (Rosenblum and Brick 2011, 1). The Bracero Program was a formal agreement signed between the United States and Mexico in 1942, establishing “a migrant guest worker program,” which had favorable conditions for Mexican immigrants (Rosenblum and Brick 2011, 4). The Bracero Program experienced significant pushback, and upon its expiration in 1964, was followed instead by the Immigration and Nationality Act in 1965, which established per-country caps and a tiered preference system for rationing visas within a country (Rosenblum and Brick 2011, 5). 

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The Ethiopian Committee on Immigration, Inc.: Social Justice in Action

Authored by Leslie Wybiral

The Ethiopian Committee on Immigration, Inc. 1983 Fundraising Letter

The Ethiopian Committee on Immigration, Inc. 1983 Fundraising Letter

The Ethiopian Committee on Immigration, Inc. (ECI) was formed in October, 1982. (Mekbib, 1983). ECI’s main objective is to find a suitable solution to immigration problems faced by Ethiopian citizens in the United States. (Mekbib, 1983). Its principal concern is therefore humanitarian. (Mekbib, 1983).

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The Role of the Legislative Process in Protecting Rights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness Website Review

Authored by Karen Beverly

http://regis778.wix.com/lawgroup204

Website created by Alice Izumo, Amanda Register, Chris Lund, and Mary Thompson

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A letter from Amnesty International which entails information including the definition of a refugee.

This particular website focuses on the process of how information is used in order to create laws. To show how this process is done, this website uses various documents obtained from the Endres Collection at the Center for Migration Studies which all pertain to the creation of a very important piece of legislation, The Refugee Act of 1980. While the documents contained in the thirteen boxes at the Center for Migration Studies were created in the 1970’s and 1980’s, the overall enactment of the laws remains relevant, which ultimately allow these documents to serve as a concrete example of the present legislative process.

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The Refugee Act of 1980 Website Review

Authored by Karen Beverly

http://refugeeact1980.weebly.com/

Website Created by Caitlin Smith & Emma Kelly

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An open remark made by Bob Dole which entailed some of the various struggles Cambodians faced.

This website focuses on the overall theme of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness of refugees living in America in the 1970’s and 1980’s. This website emphasizes various documents collected in the years 1979, the year before the implementation of the Refugee Act, and 1980.  Obtained from the Endres Collection at the Center for Migration Studies, these documents provide a strong argument regarding the necessity of why such laws need to be put into effect and how all individuals who reside in the United States are entitled to living their fundamental personal freedoms. Continue reading →

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Endres Collection: Revisions to Refugee Act of 1980

Authored by Lisa Borten

This is a letter regarding H. R. 2816.

This is the first page of a letter addressing some of the amendments made to the Refugee Act of 1980, H.R. 2816.

The document shown here is the untitled “United States Coordinator for Refugee Affairs Letter” from Dick Clark, who was appointed as U.S. Ambassador for Refugee Affairs by then-President Carter in 1979, to the US Coordinator for Refugee Affairs at the time the letter was written (September 12, 1979).  Clark, a senator from Iowa and history professor, worked on and suggested revisions to H.R. 2816, which would later become known as the Refugee Act of 1980 (Prickman 2010).

This document, among others found in the Endres collection, relates to the revisions made to the bill in question, which was groundbreaking legislation for a number of reasons.  Continue reading →

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Amnesty International Correspondence

Authored by Danielle Manri

This is a digitized document from the Endres Papers Collection. It was created by Stephanie Grant, Amnesty International’s Washington Office Director

Amnesty International Correspondence

This document, which has never before been seen by the public eye, showcases the development and revision of the Refugee Act of 1980. Most importantly, it provides a context for analyzing the inequities in previous refugee legislation that created the need for a more humanitarian law. This widespread injustice among the admittance of refugees stemmed from the somewhat discriminatory definition of the term “refugee.” In the end, this narrow definition imposed undue suffering on the hundreds of thousands of refugees who sought protection in the United States during the 1970s.[1] On top of dealing with painful memories of a lost home, many of these refugees were not even sure if they would be able to stay in the Land of the Free.[2]

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