Contrary to Obama claim, US has history of admitting refugees based on faith
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/11/18/contrary-to-obama-claim-us-has-history-admitting-refugees-based-on-faith/?intcmp=hpbt3Immigration experts give President Obama Pinocchios for his claim that the U.S. has never used “religious tests†to determine which refugees get passage to America.
Russian and Ethiopian Jews, Armenians Christians and Catholics from Vietnam have all been moved to the front of the line in previous eras based on their faith, according to historians. And giving one religious group preference is tantamount to sending others to the back of the lines, noted immigration experts.
“Clearly, there have been policies that said we will consider certain people from certain religions,†said Ira Mehlman, spokesman for Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).
Religious tests have been used to admitting refugees.
But under the 1990 law known as the Lautenberg Amendment, the federal government initially granted a presumption of refugee eligibility for Jews and Christians fleeing the former Soviet Union and Southeast Asia. Nowadays, the amendment, extended last year by Obama, prioritizes the resettlement of Jews, Christians, Baha’is, and other religious minorities who flee Iran.
It was originally for Christians and Jews fleeing Soviet Union.
