19 Sep 2007: US Senators Sponsor Bill to Accelerate Asylum for Iraqi Translators, Other (Oregonian)

From an article by Charles Pope of The Oregonian, details of Sens. Edward Kennedy D-Mass., and Gordon Smith R-Ore, calling for accelerating the process for giving Iraqi refugees asylum in the United States.

To read the full article, follow this link: http://www.oregonlive.com/oregonian/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/1190161...

WASHINGTON DC -- Congress, spurred by stories of gruesome retaliation and squalid living conditions, is moving to liberalize and accelerate the process for giving Iraqi refugees asylum in the United States.

The latest step came Tuesday when Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Gordon Smith, R-Ore., offered legislation that would streamline the system for processing requests and create a special visa for Iraqis who have "worked for or directly with" the United States in Iraq.

Hundreds of Iraqis have worked as translators and staff for the U.S. military and diplomatic corps. Some human rights organizations and lawmakers say insurgents have targeted those Iraqis and their families for death, forcing many to flee to Syria and Jordan, where life is equally perilous.

More than 4 million Iraqis have been displaced and the number is growing by 60,000 a month, U.S. officials estimate. Yet the United States has allowed fewer than 1,000 of the 7,000 refugees who were approved for resettlement.

That is not fast enough, the lawmakers said.

"It becomes our moral obligation to do something," Smith said Tuesday.

"Our bill does not circumvent the immigration process, it reforms it. It sets up refugee centers where those who are not some kind of security risk can have an expedited way to safety and eventually a place in our country."

The Kennedy-Smith bill joins a similar effort in the House [Responsibility to Iraq Refugees Act (H.R. 2265)] sponsored by Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore. While not identical, both bills aim to significantly accelerate the pace of relocating Iraqi refugees to the United States and give special status to Iraqis who have been persecuted for helping Americans.

Kennedy, who is the prime sponsor in the Senate, will attach the language to the defense authorization bill that is scheduled to be considered this week.

"Regardless of where we stand on the war with Iraq," said Kennedy, who has vocally opposed the war, "we are united in our belief that America has a fundamental obligation to assist the Iraqis who have courageously supported our forces and our effort in Iraq and whose lives are in peril as a result".

Blumenauer, who introduced his bill in May, said in a statement that he is "pleased" with Kennedy's bill and hopes it will be "as ambitious as the legislation I originally introduced in the House."