FEATURED JOBS
Comments (0)The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society is backing new legislation aimed at protecting refugees and asylum seekers.
The Refugee Protection Act was introduced Monday by U.S. Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Carl Levin (D-Mich.) on the 30th anniversary of the Refugee Act of 1980.
Though the original act provided protection for refugees and asylum seekers, provisions have eroded over the years. Asylum seekers, even after proving credible fear of persecution in their home countries, have been detained. Also, restrictions meant to prevent terrorists from entering the United States have barred legitimate, non-threatening asylum seekers from gaining entry.
HIAS, the international migration agency of the American Jewish community, said the new measure proposes “thoughtful and effective solutions to these problems and will ensure that fairness is restored to the asylum system.”
“It is also important to remember that refugee protection does not end on the day asylum or refugee status is approved,” said Gideon Aronoff, the president and CEO of HIAS. “The Refugee Protection Act would go a long way towards ensuring that refugee families are reunited quickly, and that refugees and asylees are able to integrate quickly into U.S. society.”
Oren, White House Deny ‘Crisis’ Quotes
Israel’s U.S. ambassador and the White House denied remarks that have fueled the current Israel-U.S. tensions.
The envoy, Michael Oren, was quoted this week by Haaretz as saying that relations were at a 35-year-low after Israel embarrassed Vice President Joe Biden during a visit to the region by announcing that it was building 1,600 housing units in eastern Jerusalem.
On Tuesday evening, Oren issued a statement denying that account of a conference call he had Saturday night with Israeli diplomats.
“I was flagrantly misquoted about remarks I made in a confidential briefing this past Saturday,” Oren said in a statement. “Recent events do not—I repeat—do not represent the lowest point in the relations between Israel and the United States. Though we differ on certain issues, our discussions are being conducted in an atmosphere of cooperation as befitting long-standing relations between allies. I am confident that we will overcome these differences shortly.”
Separately, numerous media quoted senior White House officials as denying an account in Yediot Achronot last week that Biden had told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel was endangering the lives of American troops in the region.
“He never said that, and there’s no basis to assert that he did,” The Atlantic quoted one official as saying. “What he did say in a meeting with the prime minister and his senior advisers and his own team was that the U.S. is doing a number of things in our national security interest, and in Israel’s national security interest, and they include a strong effort to build a coalition against Iran’s nuclear program; deploying 200,000 troops in conflict areas in the region; standing against efforts to delegitimize Israel in various international bodies, sometimes virtually alone; acting decisively against terrorists in very significant ways; and building probably the strongest defense cooperation relationship with Israel that we’ve seen, including on missile defense.”
Actor Corey Haim Laid to Rest
Actor Corey Haim was buried in a private Jewish ceremony in Toronto attended by about 200 relatives and close friends.
The former teen heartthrob, who shot to fame in the 1980s with films such as “The Lost Boys,” “License to Drive” and “Lucas,” died March 10 at the suburban Los Angeles home he shared with his Israeli-born mother, Judy. He was buried Tuesday in his native Toronto.
Haim, 38, had an enlarged heart, pulmonary congestion and water in his lungs. An autopsy has yet to confirm the cause of death, but a police spokesperson in Los Angeles openly speculated it might have been the result of a drug overdose.
Haim had been open about his struggle with drug and alcohol abuse, telling a London tabloid in 2004 that he “did cocaine for about a year-and-a-half, then it led to crack.”
He started acting as a child after his mother enrolled him in drama classes to help him overcome his shyness.
Haim often was paired in films with fellow Jewish actor Corey Feldman, and the two were the subject of a short-lived reality TV show, “The Two Coreys.”