ADC strongly supports the Refugee Protection Act of 2001, S. 1311. The bill is designed to reduce the likelihood that a refugee will be returned to persecution in the refugee’s country of nationality, or country of last residence, by United States authorities because of expedited removal procedures or lack of fairness in the United States asylum system. The bill also provides alternatives to detention and improves detention conditions for asylum seekers.

S. 1311 was introduced by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), Sam Brownback (R-Kansas), Edward Kennedy (D-Massachusetts), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Richard Durbin (D-Illinois), James Jeffords (R-Vermont), and Bob Graham (D-Florida).

S. 1311 limits the Immigration and Naturalization Service's (INS) ability to summarily inspect and remove asylum seekers. It also reforms the summary inspection procedures to decrease the likelihood of error and enhances the availability of judicial review as a safeguard against erroneous exclusion of asylum seekers.

The Arab-American community has suffered greatly as a result of aspects of the 1996 Immigration and Anti-Terrorism acts. Several of these derogations of civil liberties and immigrants rights are addressed in S. 1311.

ADC warmly welcomes the introduction of The Refugee Protection Act of 2001 and pledges to do everything in its power to promote passage of the Act.

ACTION REQUESTED:

Please call, write or email your Senator and ask her/him to support The Refugee Protection Act of 2001 (S. 1311). Please use the “contacting Congress” section of ADC’s website <http://capwiz.com/adc/home/> to send an instant message to your Senator, get information on her/him, track the bill or find other relevant information.

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear Senator X,

I am writing to ask you to support the Refugee Protection Act of 2001, S. 1311, recently introduced by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), Sam Brownback (R-Kansas), Edward Kennedy (D-Massachusetts), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Richard Durbin (D-Illinois), James Jeffords (R-Vermont), and Bob Graham (D-Florida). This bill corrects serious flaws in the 1996 Immigration Act which have lead to serious injustices and distortions of the immigration process.

In particular, S. 1311 limits the Immigration and Naturalization Services’ ability to summarily inspect and remove asylum seekers. It is designed to reduce the likelihood that a refugee will be returned to persecution in the refugee’s country of nationality, or country of last residence, by United States authorities because of expedited removal procedures or lack of fairness in the United States asylum system. S. 1311 also reforms the summary inspection procedures to decrease the likelihood of error and enhances the availability of judicial review as a safeguard against erroneous exclusion of asylum seekers.

The proposed law would also facilitate family reunification and promote fairness in amnesty review, among other badly needed measures. The 1996 Immigration Act was passed during a period of intense hostility to immigrants and did considerable harm to immigrants’ rights and the integrity of the legal and immigration systems of the United States. I strongly urge you to support The Refugee Protection Act of 2001, S. 1311.

Very truly yours,
X