International Campaign for Tibet

US Senate Committee recommends 5,000 visas for displaced Tibetans; measure faces long process in House and Senate before enactment

May 21, 2013

The Senate Judiciary Committee has adopted a measure to provide immigration visas to 5,000 displaced Tibetans residing in India and Nepal. The amendment, offered by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), was passed by voice vote and incorporated into the immigration reform legislation being crafted by the Committee.

"The Feinstein amendment serves American domestic, humanitarian and foreign policy goals," said Todd Stein, Director of Government Relations at the International Campaign for Tibet. [ "This small measure sends a strong bipartisan statement of support for Tibet at a difficult time. It acknowledges the positive contributions that Tibetan-Americans have made and will make to American society, as evidenced by Chairman Patrick Leahy's remarks about the Tibetan-American community in Vermont."

Note video of the Committee's debate on the Feinstein amendment can be found at http://www.senate.gov/isvp/?comm=judiciary&type=live&filename=judiciary052013 at the 1:18 mark.

The Committee's action is only one step in a long process. To become law, the Tibet provision would have to be included in the final immigration bill passed by both the House and the Senate. The present bill, once approved by the Judiciary Committee, still must be considered by the full Senate. The House Judiciary Committee is holding hearings this week that will shape its version of the legislation.

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