1980 – Refugee Act of 1980 Allows Persecuted Individuals to Seek Asylum in United States

“The primary goal of the Refugee Act of 1980 was to bring U.S. law into compliance with the requirements of
international law. Though domestic U.S. law has long contained
provisions designed to protect certain persons fearing persecution, U.S.
accession to the 1967 Refugee Protocol created certain specific legal
obligations pursuant to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees. Years of controversy about these obligations led to the
passage of the Refugee Act. The act contains a definition of the term
‘refugee’ derived from the 1951 convention. The definition includes, in
brief, any person unable or unwilling to return to his or her country
because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account
of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group,
or political opinion… In addition the act permits individuals within
the United States and at the U.S. border to apply for ‘asylum’ or
‘restriction on removal,’ formerly known as ‘withholding of
deportation.'”