Refugees

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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]

Continue reading →