On cspans q a. Cornell University Professor maria garcia teaches a class about the United States refugee policy since world war ii. She discusses who qualifies as a refugee and how that has changed over the years. As well as legislature governing quotas and procedures. Her class is about an hour. Ms. Garcia hundreds of thousands of people are fleeing to europe at this very moment. Can anyone tell me from what countries they are fleeing . Leighton. Ok, syria. Any other countries . Sarah. Kosovo. Russia. Any other countries . Thank you. They are traveling to find refuge in europe. This map is an idea of the route and businesses distances they are traveling to reach safety. Some are traveling alone, others are traveling as part of family units. Some are traveling in search of economic opportunity, others are literally fleeing for their lives to escape war, devastation, rape, and forced inscription into armies. The vast majority are syrian. Can anyone tell me why the syrians are fleeing . Albert. Civil war, absolutely. Would anyone else like to talk . Meredith. People are just getting killed publicly. The infrastructure, health care. Ms. Garcia absolutely correct, all of you. Thank you. The country has been locked in a bloody civil war for the past four years that has displaced one third of its population, 7 million out of 21 Million People. 4 Million People have been forced to Cross International borders mostly to neighboring countries like jordan and lebanon. They are fleeing enormous devastation. Last month, the Obama Administration announced it would increase the annual refugee quota over the next two years to it us to assist with this crisis. The annual quote a set at 70,000 to 80,000 will increase to 100,000 by the end of 2017, presumably to accommodate a greater share of Syrian Refugees. Within our immigration bureaucracy, there are several tracks for admission. We have discussed some of those tracks of admission. We are going to discuss two additional tracks, a refugee in asylum track. As you know from your class reading, americans have used the word refugee throughout the 19th and 20th centuries to describe a wide range of migration experiences. During the mid19th century, americans refer to the germans fleeing the 1848 revolution in europe as refugees. In 1865, as part of the postcivil war reconstruction, the federal government established an agency known as the bureau of rep ags of refugees to assist the newly freed slaves. During the mexican revolution of 1910 to 1920, an estimated one Million People fled mexico and settled in the southwestern United States. American journalist and politician commonly referred to these people as refugees. There are many other examples. We have used the term refugee over and over again throughout history. Today, refugee has a very precise, legal meaning. That meaning has developed over the past 60 years as we will see in todays class. We dont see a distinct refugee policy until the end of world war ii. Two congressional acts are generally considered the origins of american refugee policy. The 1940 eight displaced persons act and the 1963 Refugee Relief act. Under these programs, the federal government allowed 600,000 europeans to immigrate to the United States over and beyond the established immigration quota cut it was deemed in the National Interest. Can anyone tell me why the truman and Eisenhower Administration would have deemed it in the National Interest to a comment european refugees and displaced persons . Sarah. We are already locked in a cold war and battling for the hearts and minds of the developing worlds. This is a way of signaling are humanitarian commitment. Any other reasons . They wanted european stability. That was in the interest of the u. S. Ms. Garcia they wanted european stability, to assist in the post economic recovery. These are all very good answers. At the end of the war, there were an estimated 10 Million People left homeless and in some cases, stateless in europe alone. Truman wanted to accommodate a greater share of the displaced persons in order to assist europes postwar recovery. Financial aid to the wartorn nations was not enough. The United States had a moral obligation to accept a number of the displaced persons in europe. Yet congress resisted. Even after americans became more fully aware of the horrors of the not see death camps, congress resisted. Can anyone tell me why congress would have been so resistant at this time to accommodating displaced persons . Anyone want to venture a guess . Bear in mind that at this moment in time, the National Origin quotas are still in place. Admitting people outside of those National Origin quotas was a highly controversial idea. When the displaced persons act finally passed, it passed three years after the war had ended. Even though president truman had advocated on behalf of the displaced person, he was tempted to veto this personal bill that came out of congress because he felt it was wholly inconsistent with americans sense of justice. In the end, he signed legislation because he wanted to be able to assist some segment of the displaced population, even though it was not the bill he was looking for. Why did he consider this to be inconsistent with american sense of justice . The building came out of Congress Took so many restrictions on who could be sponsored, you have to be located in austria and germany, for example and you had to been living never by 1945. This excluded most of the jewish refugee population. The law was amended to years later in 1950. By august 1952, of the 415,000 europeans brought in as displaced persons, only 80,000 of them were jewish refugees. The majority of those were ethnic germans. President eisenhower believed much more had to be done to assist the countries of western europe, countries still economically recovering from the war and facing the additional burden of thousands of refugees fleeing the eastern areas, the newly emerging communist countries and moving into western europe. This time, Congress Responded with the Refugee Relief act of 1953. This act granted 214,000 visas over the next two years to refugees and escapees. The law defined these terms in particular waste. Expellees for those fleeing communist countries and refugees were fleeing persecution anywhere in the world. Because the that majority of those admitted to the u. S. Under the Refugee Relief act were fleeing communist countries, the term refugee became synonymous with those fleeing communism, at least in this country. Refugee policy was a way of assisting those who were fleeing communism. But because the people who were fleeing communism lets say there was a great deal of suspicion in the United States about whether these individuals or truly democracyloving individuals. Those who came from communist countries tended to be heavily screened because of americans fears of a sponsoring communist spies who would infiltrate the United States and do us harm. As the cold war developed, the United States is forced to deal with a number of humanitarian crises. These responses helped to further develop our refugee policies. In 1956, socialist revolutionaries and hungary overthrew their profile the coming theyre prosoviet communist governments. This prompted a crackdown on the soviet union. Within days of the crackdown, tens of thousands of refugees fled into neighboring austria. Some 200,000 hungarian refugees eventually took refuge in austria alone. To accommodate these refugees, the Eisenhower Administration used the Parole Authority, which allowed the attorney general to parole people into the United States without a visa and outside of immigration quotas if it was deemed and the National Interest. The immigrant parolees could come to the u. S. But could not become permanent residents unless Congress Passed legislation that helps them normalize the status. Eisenhower used this authority to admit some 32,000 hungarian refugees into the United States just from austria. An additional 6000 were brought in under a variety of other visas. But because americans were concerned with sponsoring communist spies, the less refugees were brought to an old army base in new jersey, where they were screened, interviewed, housed temporarily before they were released to their assigned american sponsor families. This photograph you see here, we see Vice PresidentRichard Nixon meeting with gary and refugee children around christmas time. Next he military and crisis came in cuba in 1959. Fidel castro overthrew the government. Between 1950 nine and 1973, roughly half a million cubans are admitted to the United States, the majority of them in the freedom flight of the mid to late 1960s. December 1 marks the 50th anniversary of the first freedom flight from havana to Miami International airport. The Kennedy Administration created the Cuban Refugee Program to screen the refugees to find sponsors for them, and to help them in the United States. By the time the Cuban Refugee Program was phased out in the 1970s, the federal government had invested some 100 million into cuban refugee release. Those paroled into the United States could not become permanent residents unless Congress Passed enabling legislation that allowed them to normalize their status. This is what congress did. Congress passed the hungarian release act of 1968 and the 1960 cuban adjustment act, which allowed hungarians and humans to become permanent residents in the u. S. After living here for two years. So we begin to see the origins of the distinctive refugee policy taking place in the 1950s and 1960s. Members of congress became increasingly concerned that the white house was using the Parole Authority to much as a backdoor to bring in people to the u. S. Outside of the established immigration quota. Consequently, when Congress Passed the hardsell or act of 1965, they inserted a quote of 10,000 refugees per year. Once again, refugee was defined as someone who fled a communistdominated or communistoccupied country. We see that further association of the word refugee with someone fleeing communism. This association of refugees with anticommunism continued through the 1970s. Those admitted under the hardseller refugee quota, almost all came from communist countries. The executive branch continue to perot into coming is to outside of quotas. In 1975, 130,000 refugees were admitted from vietnam and cambodia. Congress passed the indochina migration and refugee assistance act to provide resettlement assistance to those 130,000 refugees. The decision to admit refugees was always contested. God throughout the 1950s and 1960s and 1970s, Public Opinion polls showed americans were generally sympathetic to those fleeing communism but they didnt necessarily want them to come here. They wanted them to go someplace else. In 1956, the Eisenhower Administration had to enlist the assistance of Public Relation firms to help them sell the idea of hungarian refugees to a reluctant american appellation. These Public Relation firms worked with specific journalists who published story after story in news magazines portraying the hum give arians as hardworking, freedomloving people. The photo i showed of Richard Nixon meeting with the children was part of that campaign to sell the idea of a gary and refugees to the american population. Many americans were still not convinced. 20 years later, americans are even more resistant to accommodating Southeast Asians, who they viewed as too culturally different to be properly assimilated to the United States. The pain of the vietnam war also probably had a great deal to do with that reluctance. Despite the news of refugee camps in thailand and the news that hundreds of people were dying at sea to reach safety somewhere in the world, less than one third of americans were in favor of sponsoring vietnamese or other Southeast Asia and refugees on american soil. Despite this public opposition, the white house always took the lead on refugee policy. They favored refugee admission for humanitarian reasons but also as a tool of cold war foreignpolicy. Refugee serves a symbolic function during the cold war. It demonstrated the desirability of democracy over to tell terry and his him totalitarianism. These photos are of people from east berlin trying to reach west berlin. As you see, some refugees went to extraordinary lengths. They built underground tunnels, jumped over fences and walls. In some cases, they built hot air balloons to fly them aCross International borders. They demonstrated, symbolized the hunger on behalf of humans to live in free societies. Refugees were also the highlyskill of their society. In some cases, they brought important intelligence that informed our military policies. Refugee scientists like other einstein like albert einstein. They played a key role in the development of Nuclear Physics in those country. The United States also went to great links to special lengths to bring in the brightest. They even expunged the nazi records of some so they could work in u. S. Intelligence. They played a key role in the development of the u. S. Space program. Refugees also informed our political life. Think of henry kissinger, madeleine albright, hannah ar endt. They have shaped our cultural life. The russian french painter, marc chagall. Refugees have always played a Important Role in the life of our nation. Public opinion polls tell us americans were very concerned about accommodating refugees in a matter how noble the cause, no aderholt noble the individual. No matter how noble the individual. In 1980, Congress Passed the refugee act in response to what they perceived to be the continuing misuse of the Parole Authority on the part of the executive branch. In the 1980 refugee act, it tried to free the term of refugee and adopted the u. N. Version. Can anyone tell me the five categories in the u. N. And u. S. Definition of refugees . Religion, nationality, political affiliation. Ms. Garcia refugee must prove a wellfounded fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion. The refugee act also established a numerical quota. They were tired of the executive branch of bringing in an indefinite number of refugees and they put a strict america limit on those refugees who could be brought in to the United States. How is the quota determined . Anyone . Since 1980, the white house in consultation with congress establishes an annual refugee quota and cards up that quota in order of that Years National priorities. At the first year, the quota was at 50000 and eventually increased to 120,000 but since 9 11, the annual quote a has hovered at 70,00080,000 per year. As we see on this slide, we have never come close to meeting the quota. The closest we came was 2013. That year, we came within 100 slots of meeting the annual refugee quota of 70,000. But as you see, you see the annual ceiling and the actual number of refugees admitted during that fiscal year. Weve never come close to meeting the annual refugee quota. Despite attempts to bring the definition of refugee in line with international norms, in practice, anticommunist continued to be the ideological lens through which we determine who a refugee is. Who would be prioritized for admission to the u. S. The vast majority of our refugees have come from three countries the soviet union, cuba, and vietnam. Now, the end of the cold war presented numerous humanitarian challenges for the United States. Millions of people were displaced from their homes and forced to Cross International borders as the nation disappeared and reconstituted themselves and politically realigned. We have seen war, civil unrest, genocide, Natural Disaster in far too many countries. By the end of the 1990s, the first decade after of the postcold war period. There were 14 million refugees worldwide. The majority women and children. In the postcold war period, for policy interest continue to influence who came into the u. S. What was seen in the post cold war period was domestic advocacy groups. They are playing a more active role in shaping the contours of refugee policy, who is admitted to the United States. Those groups that have powerful advocates representing their interest before congress are more successf