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This week marks the 30th Anniversary of the Refugee Act of 1980, a landmark piece of legislation which made the U.S. an attractive home for men, women, and children fleeing persecution in other countries. In past decades however, escalating detentions and a barrage of new barriers have left asylum seekers trapped in a broken legal system where they encounter delays, detention, and often deportation back to countries where they can face persecution, torture, and even death. Now, Democratic Senators Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Carl Levin of Michigan, have introduced the Refugee Act of 2010 which adds new human rights protections for refugees and asylum seekers in the U.S. The new bill directs the government to apply a single standard for all asylum seekers intercepted at sea, forcing for example, Cubans, Haitians, and Chinese refugees to be treated equally when attempting to land on American shores by boat. Current American practices violate international humanitarian treaties. The bill also clarifies what actions constitute “material support” to ensure that innocent acts of asylum seekers are not mislabeled as terrorist activities.

GUEST: Joanne Lin, Legislative Counsel with the ACLU

Contact Senator Barbara Boxer here: https://boxer.senate.gov/en/contact/policycomments.cfm

Contact Senator Dianne Feinstein here: http://feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactUs.EmailMe

For more information, visit www.aclu.org.