WASHINGTON (JTA) — The U.S. Congress approved a provision to ease refugee processing. Lawmakers recently granted a one-year extension of the Specter Amendment, which will help facilitate refugee processing of Jews, evangelical Christians and other religious minorities in the former Soviet Union.
The Labor, Health and Human Services bill also includes funding for the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which provides grants to the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society and other Jewish social service agencies for initial resettlement needs of refugees from the former Soviet Union, Iran and elsewhere.
In 2001, HIAS received approximately $8 million from the office, specifically for job skills and placement programs.