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August 8, 2003/Av 10 5763, Vol. 55, No. 50
Immigration reform still at issue
E.B. SOLOMONT
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
NEW YORK - A recent call for immigration reform from the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society is sparking debate over whether the issue, historically an important one for American Jewry, is still a priority for the community.
The call, issued in a June 3 resolution, has galvanized advocates who say that the Jewish community should support easier access to the United States, as well as opponents who say that - especially post-Sept. 11 - looser immigration stand-ards may result in security threats to the Jewish community.
HIAS' recent resolution laid out what the group considers a comprehensive plan, ac-cording to Gideon Aronoff, HIAS' Washington representative.
HIAS called on the government to give undocumented workers the opportunity to earn legal status; to create temporary worker programs that protect immigrants' labor rights; to expand existing preference systems for reunifying immigrant family members; and to screen and deport immigrants who pose a threat to national security.
But some critics who agree that immigration policy should be reformed say HIAS' solution could put the American Jewish community in jeopardy by letting in potentially dangerous immigrants.
"We are enabling our enemies through this," said Stephen Steinlight, former national affairs director at the American Jewish Committee and currently a fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies and at the U.S. Institute for Strategic Study of South Asia.
"If the current immigration policy remains unreformed," Jews "would be outnumbered by Muslims by the next census," he said. "The number one danger facing the Jewish community is the present open immigration" - meaning lax oversight at borders - "because it will see to it that a community that hates us will outnumber us in the United States in numbers and money."
Jews' interest in immigration law is based mainly on historical gratitude for their own entry into the U.S. and is informed by biblical and ethical motivations.
Post-Sept. 11, though, most discussion centers on whether lax immigration standards pose a threat to national security.
Other reasons have less of a direct connection with Jewish issues, such as the more than 2,000 migrant workers who have died attempting to enter the United States from Mexico since 1998.
HIAS also cited a backlog of immigrants' family members waiting to enter the United States, and the eight to 10 million immigrants at risk of exploitation in workplaces.
Steinlight acknowledges the historical reasons for allowing open immigration but denies their relevance today - and accuses Jewish communal leaders of failing to recognize the change.
Jewish organizations - including HIAS, the American Jewish Committee and B'nai Brith International - say they are attempting to balance the desire for a generous immigration policy with the need for heightened national security.
The goal is to "have a system in place that remains wel-coming," while allowing the United States "to police its borders and assure that those who come do not include those who want to do us harm," said Richard Foltin, legislative director and counsel for the American Jewish Committee.
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