Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS)

The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society is the American Jewish community’s international migration agency. Founded in 1881, HIAS assists Jews whose lives and freedom are at risk, through rescue, relocation, family reunification, and resettlement. HIAS’s offices in eight countries, including Israel, provide a wide array of legal and support services.

In Vienna, HIAS assists Jews and other religious minorities who have fled Iran and applied for refugee status in the U.S. As an expression of Jewish ethics and values, HIAS also protects vulnerable non-Jewish refugees in countries such as Chad, where, together with IsraAID, HIAS provides trauma counseling to Darfuri survivors of the genocide in Sudan. Since its founding, HIAS has helped more than 4.5 million men, women and children.

In the United States, HIAS delivers funding, technical assistance and training on immigration law and community development to local federations and other Jewish organizations serving refugees — including hundreds of thousands of HIAS clients from the former Soviet Union. HIAS’s coalition-building among American Jewish, interfaith and other organizations has helped to win numerous legislative victories that have benefited elderly Jews and other at-risk groups. Its Family Location and History Program helps dispersed families and friends find each other, verifies their status for governmental assistance programs, and conducts research on family and communal migration history. Building a new generation of leaders and activists for the Jewish community, HIAS’s Young Leaders program engages more than 1,500 people in their 20s and 30s in HIAS’s mission of service, advocacy and education.