Refugee Act - History

History

It wasn't until after World War II that the United States began to differentiate the term "refugee" from "immigrant" and began creating policy that dealt specifically with refugees while working outside of immigration policy. Early action came in the form of the 1948 Displaced Persons Act, the Refugee Relief Act of 1953, and the Refugee-Escapee Act of 1957. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, which was later amended in 1965 to include policy for refugees on a case by case basis, was the first Act that the consolidated U.S. immigration policy into one body of text.

The creation of the Refuge Act began with hearings by the United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security from 1965–1968, which recommended that congress create a uniform system for refugees, but received little support. Edward Kennedy began writing to propose a bill to reform refugee policy in 1978 and first introduced the idea to the United States Senate in 1979. With his proposal, he hoped to address the need for a reformed, non need-based policy that was not specifically designed for people from communist regimes in Eastern Europe or repressive governments in the Middle East, as it was in the past. At the time, there was an average of 200,000 refugees coming to the United States, most of which were Indochinese and Soviet Jews. The cost of resettlement was close to $4,000, but most refugees eventually paid this amount in federal income taxes. Many Americans feared a floodgate scenario with a large and sudden increase of the refugee population, but the 50,000 cap would only account for 10% of immigration flow to the U.S. and would allow one refugee for every 4,000 Americans, small numbers compared to those of countries like Canada, France and Australia. The bill was adopted by the Senate by a unanimous vote on September 6, 1979, and remained essentially intact until it was signed in 1980.