A Critical Analysis of Refugee Law

A review of immigration law and history reveals that the United States admits large numbers of refugees from communist countries, but grants entrance to a disproportionate few from noncommunist states. The author interprets these figures to mean that the government uses the refugee admissions process as a ploy to accomplish political objectives. This article exposes the inequity in the admissions process by examining the legislative and executive responses to the refugee problem. Although many had hoped that the Refugee Act of 1980 would eliminate the political bias in refugee policy, the author suggests that the Act, in fact, institutionalizes preexisting political biases.