But the New York-based refugee resettlement agency is losing substantial funding from the government this year, since its caseload has dropped almost in half.
“This is a transitional moment,” said Leonard Glickman, executive vice president of HIAS. “We still have a large number of Jews who need access to our program. At the same time, immigration levels are nowhere near those of the early 1990s.”
Now seeing a need to revitalize, HIAS wants to focus on polishing its relations with communities that resettle refugees.
Glickman was doing just that in San Francisco last month, when he met with representatives of the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation.
The state of Bay Area Jewish refugee immigration topped the agenda of the meeting. HIAS reports that San Francisco had nearly 1,000 immigrants last year, most of them from the former Soviet Union. This year, the numbers are expected to drop by half.
“I’m curious to know what that means here,” Glickman said. “San Francisco is the fourth-largest site in the U.S. for Jewish refugees. We want to know how we can help.”
San Francisco’s diminishing refugee population follows the nation’s immigration trends. Last year HIAS helped approximately 15,000 refugees. It only expects to accommodate 7,000 this year.
Though there may be another wave of immigrants as economic unrest continues in Russia, Glickman expects refugee cases will continue to decrease.
The current drop, he added, was expected. “Our agency has always been an accordion agency; we’re supposed to be flexible. Just because there is a drop in arrivals, I don’t want people to think the program is winding down.”
Since it usually takes about seven years for resident aliens to become U.S. citizens, those who arrived first in this decade’s wave of immigrants from the former USSR are just now going through the naturalization process, Glickman noted. HIAS, he said, wants to make sure that process goes smoothly.
This year, HIAS, working with the Council of Jewish Federations, drafted a proposal which recommends restructuring the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service so as to maximize its efficiency. HIAS is working with legislators to draft a bill which it hopes reaches Congress next year.
The INS, which has a reputation for being a slow and cumbersome bureaucracy, is in charge of issuing citizenship to immigrants as well as policing U.S. borders to prevent illegal entries.
The HIAS proposal recommends the two functions be separated. The INS would still manage the law enforcement arm of the agency, but that aspect would be distanced from the naturalization arm so services could be offered more effectively.
That way, immigrants “would not have to face intimidating agents who wear guns when they want to become citizens,” Glickman said.
“Reorganizing a government agency is about as boring as it gets, but it matters because if we can restructure it, we can resettle more refugees.”
With the slowdown in Jewish immigration, HIAS has been considering other ways it can offer services. Glickman said some Jewish communities are interested in helping non-Jews resettle.
Though HIAS has always concentrated on Jewish refugees, it has also periodically given aid to non-Jewish immigrants.
Other Jewish communities, however, are concerned that HIAS will lose its focus if it courts non-Jewish cases, Glickman said.
“Non-Jewish resettlement is a sensitive issue. But I believe if there is some small contribution we Jews can make, we ought to be helpful.”
Ultimately, Glickman said, the best-case scenario for HIAS would be that it not exist at all.
“In a perfect world, there would be no threats to Jews, and refugees wouldn’t exist. Still, we have a responsibility to have a program in place to assist any Jews who need our protection. There are still a lot of people left to help.”