United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Refugee Act of 1980 Establishes Systematic Asylum Process, Becomes Target of Enforcement Capture

| Importance: 8/10

President Jimmy Carter signs the Refugee Act of 1980, the first comprehensive reform of U.S. refugee policy since the Displaced Persons Act of 1948. The legislation adopts the United Nations definition of refugee as anyone with a “well-founded fear of persecution” based on race, …

Jimmy Carter Edward Kennedy U.S. Congress United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Department of State immigration refugee-policy asylum cold-war institutional-capture
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