Refugee Policies (1988)

According to the U.S. Department of State, immigration is a fundamental aspect of our nation’s policy.

“The United States is a nation of immigrants. Since its founding, the country has welcomed millions of people who have come to a land of opportunity. Their skills and hard work have contributed immeasurably to the economic, political, and cultural development of the United States.

U.S. immigration policy in general seeks to:

• Establish a reasonable, fair, orderly, and secure system of immigration into the United States;
• Reunify families in the United States;
• Eliminate discrimination against particular nations or peoples; and
• Protect our heritage of legal immigration, which, since 1820, has enabled more than 50 million immigrants to come to the United States.”

– March, 1988, U.S. State Department Bureau of Public Affairs

In recent years, conflict and repression have caused more than 11 million people throughout the globe to flee their homelands as refugees.

Women’s League for Conservative Judaism, sensitive to the plight of refugees everywhere, supports and encourages monitoring of:

1. Enforcement of the anti-discrimination and legalization provisions of the Immigration, Reform and Control Act of 1986.
2. A policy of family reunification.
3. Swift and humane absorption and acculturation of new immigrants.