A Question of Values: Continuing Divergences between U.S. and International Refugee Norms

Abstract

When the comprehensive Refugee Act was passed in 1980, it was hailed as "one of the most important pieces of humanitarian legislation ever enacted by a United States Congress."' The Refugee Act was one of the first U.S. laws that sought to codify U.S. obligations pursuant to a United Nations multilateral human rights treaty. 2 To that extent, it was a significant step forward in bringing the U.S. into compliance with its international human rights obligations. But international human rights treaties are much more than the four corners of a document, to be codified in domestic law. They represent a set of political values, collectively understood, to guarantee and respect the life, liberty and security of individuals by their governments.3 This is the essence of the social