ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the emergence of safeguards intended to make sure that refugees are not denied access to the US resettlement program due to overly broad terrorism bars that had been expanded following 9/11. In particular, it traces the process leading up to Section 691 of the 2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act (the Leahy–Kyl Amendment), which provides for exemptions from Terrorism-Related Inadmissibility Grounds. The chapter shows that the expansion of waivers against such inadmissibility grounds was the result of strategic learning among US lawmakers. Specifically, US lawmakers were confronted with various arguments about the strategic benefits of a flexible refugee program and about the necessity of safeguards that could prevent bona fide refugees from being barred from US refugee and asylum protections. Eventually, they concluded that the anticipated benefits of introducing safeguards outweighed the potential costs of indiscriminately barring refugees from resettlement.
