Comments and Recommendations on Proposed Reforms to United States Immigration Policy

The author discusses the legal status of the "refugee" under two decades of American and international law. After reviewing the implications of the United States accession to the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, the Refugee Act of 1980, and current proposals for reform in the refugee/asylum area, he concludes that the Simpson-Mazzoli bill, with several major modifications, would be the most equitable approach to dealing with the present refugee and asylum problems.