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News and opinion coverage of the issue includes:

Provision of antiterror law delays entry of refugees | About 9,500 Burmese refugees scheduled to be resettled in the United States from Thailand this year are in limbo because their indirect support for armed rebels opposed to their repressive government has put them in technical violation of American antiterrorism law, government officials say (The New York Times, Mar. 8)

Local experts: Patriot Act could keep refugees from families | Hundreds of local Burmese and Karen refugees could be kept from reuniting with their families because of unclear language in the Patriot Act and the REAL ID Act of 2005, local experts in refugee resettlement said (Observer-Dispatch, Utica, N.Y., Mar. 4)

Terrorists or victims? | American law prevents refugees from entering the United States if they provided "material support" to terrorists, even if the support was given under duress (Editorial, The New York Times, Apr. 3)

Let us not deny refuge to victims of terrorism | In an absurd twist, America's anti-terrorism laws are now being used to deny protection to refugees fleeing some of the most brutal regimes and violent conflicts on earth (Gideon Aronoff, Forward, Mar. 31)

U.S. unintentionally dims lamp for persecuted refugees | What do Nelson Mandela, Moses, and George Washington all have in common? Under obscure provisions in the recently renewed Patriot Act and the Real ID Act, none of them could seek shelter or citizenship in the United States. (Bronwyn Lance Chester, The Virginian-Pilot, Mar. 30)

Terrorist or terrorized? | U.S. policy toward authoritarian governments has been turned on its head: The victims of terrorism are being denied protection and sanctuary (George Rupp, Los Angeles Times, Mar. 29)

Real injustice | The REAL ID Act's effects have been cruel to people already oppressed by vile regimes and terrorist groups. The law needs to be changed (Editorial, The Washington Post, Mar. 18)

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May 2006, Vol. 50, No. 5