Mr. Speaker. as we move through the holiday season It is important to remember those who have made a personal sacrifice to ensure the safety and freedom of others. Many Americans throughout the Southwest have made a per. sonal decision to protect the rights of refugees from El Salvador by assisting them in a modernday version of the "Underground Railroad." Most of the people involved in the "sanctuary movement" are women. Just as the Quakers and black American leaders like Harriet Tubman who risked imprisonment and/or a return to slavery. these women risk Imprisonment to smuggle refugees to the United States. Because of the administrations refusal to grant "extended voluntary departure" to Salvadorans or Guatemalans. these American women feel compelled to smuggle and harbor these refugees to prevent them from being deported to an uncertain fate and possible death in violation of the U.N. Protocol on Refugees. Glamour magazine recently featured an article by Claudia Drel. fus. "Women of the Sanctuary Movement." which described the movement and the women who participate in this extraordinary struggle which has become "one of the largest demonstrations of civil disobedience since the Vietnam war." In this season. where we will share the holidays with family and friends. I commend this article to my collegues as an example of Americans who have chosen to struggle for the freedom of others at great personal risk to themselves. Their commitment only provides more impetus for the Congress to move forward with the MoakleyDeConcini legislation. 11.11. 822. to protect the rights of these refugees.
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Refugees deported refugees