The REAL ID Act, passed by the House and attached to an emergency spending bill, places refugees at an increased risk of persecution and erodes this country's historic commitment to protect those seeking safe haven.  On the 25th anniversary of the Refugee Act -- legislation that affirmed the United States� commitment to protecting refugees -- the House of Representatives placed an anti-refugee bill on a fast track to becoming law. Episcopal Migration Ministries strongly condemns the House leadership�s decision to attach the REAL ID Act to the emergency spending bill on Iraq and tsunami aid as a serious threat to refugees seeking protection from persecution in the United States.  By incorporating the REAL ID Act into the emergency spending bill, the House Leadership is seeking to press the Senate to accept anti-refugee provisions without sufficient consideration or debate.

Please contact your Senators and urge them to preserve our nation's commitment to protecting refugees by keeping the REAL ID Act out of the Senate emergency spending bill.  Senate contact information is available through this link: http://capwiz.com/rollcall/dbq/officials.  In your communication with Senators, you are encouraged to personalize the sample letter provided here.

Dear Senator:

I am writing to strongly urge you to keep the REAL ID Act out of the emergency spending bill, which will make it much harder for legitimate refugees to obtain asylum and place them at greater risk of being deported back into the hands of their persecutors.  

The REAL ID Act would:

• Allow a refugee who testifies credibly to be denied asylum if she is unable to track down documents to confirm or �corroborate� her credible testimony � for instance, where this effort might endanger her family; 
  
• Require a refugee to prove her persecutor's "central" reasons for harming her � essentially penalizing a refugee who cannot prove with unrealistic precision what is going on in her persecutor's mind;
  
• Give an immigration officer or immigration judge broad leeway to deny a refugee asylum based on her "demeanor� -- ignoring the fact that survivors of rape, forced abortions, or similar abuses may appear lacking in emotion or have difficulty making eye contact -- or based on any inconsistencies in her prior statements, even minor mistakes in remembering dates that do not relate to her persecution or fears;
  
• Allow an asylum seeker to be deported back to his country of persecution even though his case is pending before a U.S. Federal Court of Appeals. If the federal court decides that the refugee deserves asylum, it will do him little good if he has already been deported back into the hands of those who mean him harm; and 
  
• Allow people who bear no personal responsibility for terrorist acts� even the wives and children of victims of extortion by terrorist or militant groups -- to be deported and barred from asylum based on overly broad definitions of �terrorism� and of what constitutes "supporting" terrorism.

Existing law already bars from asylum anyone who engages in terrorist activity and anyone who is or may reasonably be considered a danger to the security of the United States.  The provisions listed above will have serious life and death consequences for genuine refugees without making our nation safer.  Moreover, Congress and the former INS have instituted many reforms to address the problems that occurred in the early nineties with the asylum system. 

Keeping the REAL ID Act out of the emergency spending bill will help to ensure the preservation of our nation's commitment to protecting refugees who have fled horrific persecution. 

Thank you for your consideration.