HIAS, formerly the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, ¹ was created in 1881 to assist Jewish communities emigrating from Russia and Eastern Europe to the United States. ² It changed its name to HIAS to expand its reach to non-Jewish refugees. ³ Since 2015, HIAS has resettled refugees, asylees, and Special Immigrant Visa holders (SIVs) to New York City and provided employment counseling, job placement, and vocational training services to these groups. ⁴ HIAS has received grants and donations from prominent philanthropists, including billionaire ex-wife of Jeff Bezos MacKenzie Scott and Prince Harry of the United Kingdom. ^{5 6}

HIAS has several initiatives that promote liberal expansionist immigration policies. The organization has been critical of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies and has successfully sued Trump’s presidential administrations in federal court. ^{7 8}

HIAS has been the center of several controversies, including its alleged abandonment of its Jewish and Zionist identity, its alleged de-prioritization of Jews after the October 7, 2023 terrorist attacks on Israel, and its unclear stance on providing funds to Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war. ^{3 9 10}

History

Although HIAS was not officially incorporated as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society until 1903, it began its work in 1881. By the time Ellis Island became the official immigration inspection and processing station in New York City in 1892, HIAS predecessor organizations, including the Hebrew Sheltering House Association and its Woman’s Auxiliary, had already begun providing meals, transportation, and jobs to members of the fast-growing Russian Jewish population in America. ¹¹

In 1902, community members gathered in a shop on the Lower East Side and started a group that would come to be known as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. They established a shelter with dormitory space a soup kitchen, as well as clothing for immigrant Jews. Organizers set up a bureau on Ellis Island in 1904 to assist new arrivals, provide translation services, guide immigrants through medical screenings, argue before the Boards of Special Inquiry to prevent deportations, and obtain bonds to guarantee employable status. The organization also located relatives of immigrants who were detained because they had neither money nor friends to claim them. ¹¹

World War I brought the largest influx of Jews from Eastern Europe to America for HIAS to manage. Because of the Emergency Quota Act of 1921 and the subsequent National Origins Act of 1924, few refugees were resettled to the United States from that time through World War II, but HIAS was able to work through its European arm to help 250,000 Jews escape Nazi persecution. After the war, HIAS was instrumental in evacuating the Displaced Persons camps in Europe and aiding in the resettlement of some 150,000 people to 330 communities in the U.S., Canada, Australia, South America, and, eventually, to Israel following its founding in 1948. After World War II, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 1951 Refugee Convention became the basis for international refugee law, providing the foundation for HIAS’s future work to assist refugees. ¹¹

HIAS spent the rest of the twentieth century helping relocate primarily Jewish refugees. It has since expanded its mission to provide refugee and asylum advocacy and services to refugees of all religions and ethnic backgrounds. ¹¹ Following this expansion in its declared mission, HIAS dropped the name “Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society” from its identity, ¹ according to the left-of-center Jewish newspaper Forward the formal name change occurred in 1975. ¹⁰

Initiatives for Refugees

Resettlement

HIAS maintains several initiatives, although its primary campaign is the refugee resettlement program. In 2022, HIAS helped resettle 6,627 people with the help of a vast network of over 25 Jewish resettlement partners, including synagogues, Jewish Family Services centers, and other community organizations. This refugee resettlement process includes providing for refugees’ initial needs upon arrival, including airport pickup, housing, and food, as well as connecting refugees to long-term services such as English classes, education, job counseling, and healthcare. ^{12 13}

HIAS also seeks to connect refugees to legal counsel. In 2021, HIAS connected 271,773 people worldwide to legal services. HIAS maintains a network of pro bono lawyers, nongovernmental organizations, and nonprofits across 15 countries. ¹⁴ HIAS has a specific initiative related to protecting women and girls involved in the refugee process, particularly oriented to reducing human and sex trafficking. Tied to this initiative, HIAS promotes a left-of-center position on LGBT interests and advocates for LGBT refugees fleeing discrimination based on their sexual orientation. ¹⁵

Once refugees are resettled, HIAS has several initiatives that seek to promote economic and social well-being, including through mental health programs, continued refugee rights advocacy, and assistance in entrepreneurship and job training. ¹⁶

Center for Refugee Policy

HIAS operates the Center for Refugee Policy as a specifically policy-based think tank to produce left-of-center policy advice for local, state, and federal legislatures. The center seeks to publish research and policy analyses, generate new policy-relevant ideas, and bring new, left-leaning voices to the immigration conversation. The Center for Refugee Policy is the vehicle through which HIAS expands its regional influence in specific governments and refugee situations. It produces needs assessments and wellness reports to gauge the efficacy of regional refugee policies and programs, including specifically in New York City, the District of Columbia, Ukraine, Poland, Latin America, Sudan, and Chad. ¹⁷

The Center for Refugee Policy published a needs assessment for New York City and Washington, D.C. in June 2024 through which it advocated for greater government spending and involvement in refugee access to basic needs, housing, legal services, and health care, including mental health services. ¹⁸

Political Advocacy

Through its refugee advocacy, HIAS has expressed its political opinions on matters of immigration policy, most notably through its opposition to President Donald Trump’s various restrictions on immigration. HIAS has also partnered with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) to condemn Israeli deportation policy. ^{7 19}

Opposition to Donald Trump

First in 2017 and again in 2020, HIAS expressed its opposition to President Trump’s travel ban on refugees, asylum seekers, and other migrants from several countries. HIAS claimed that Trump’s order was rooted in “xenophobia, forced family separation, and stopping people—especially those escaping volatile situations in Eritrea, Myanmar, and Sudan—from coming to safety in the U.S.” HIAS supported the then-proposed and No Ban Act which sought to repeal the ban and amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to prohibit discrimination based on religion. ²⁰

In 2019, HIAS sued the Trump administration to challenge an executive order that required state and local officials to consent in writing to refugees being resettled within that state and locality before the refugees can live there. The ADL joined an amicus brief along with 27 other coalition partners in support of the refugee resettlement agencies. The United States District Court for Maryland sided with HIAS and granted a preliminary injunction to block the executive order. In January 2021, a U.S. Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed the preliminary injunction. ^{7 8}

In February 2025, HIAS joined a lawsuit against President Trump’s executive order that demanded the suspension of the refugee resettlement program and the freeze on refugee funding. The lawsuit was filed in federal district court in Seattle. ²¹ Since President Trump’s second term began in January 2025, HIAS has published a weekly update on his administration’s changes to United States immigration and refugee policy and HIAS’s actions to oppose them. ²²

Opposition to Israeli Deportation Policy

In 2018, HIAS and the ADL wrote an open letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, urging him to refrain from implementing a reported plan to deport tens of thousands of African asylum seekers from Israel, either by coercion or force. ¹⁹ Israel abandoned the policy following this and other sources of international pressure. ²³

Involvement in Pacito v. Trump

In November 2025, HIAS, alongside Church World Service (CWS), Lutheran Community Services Northwest (LCSNW), and the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), welcomed a federal compliance order in Pacito v. Trump. The order reaffirmed that the U.S. government must resume processing and provide resettlement support for roughly 12,000 refugees who had been conditionally approved and scheduled for travel prior to January 20, when the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program was suspended. The ruling followed a series of legal disputes over the Trump administration’s refusal to comply with earlier court injunctions and its withholding of funds from refugee agencies. HIAS President Mark Hetfield praised the decision, calling it a necessary reaffirmation of the humanitarian and bipartisan principles behind the refugee resettlement program. ²⁴

Conspiracy Theories

Israel Position

In 2020, HIAS executive director Mark Hetfield addressed several alleged conspiracy theories about HIAS, to dispel rumors about the group. During an interview with Jewish Journal, Hetfield claimed that HIAS was not an anti-Israel organization and that it did not support boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) groups. Hetfield also denied a rumor that HIAS partnered with anti-Israel groups. Hetfield specifically stated that “allegations that HIAS ‘partners’ with organizations like IfNotNow, MPAC [Muslim Public Affairs Council] and CAIR are not true.” Instead, Hetfield said that HIAS regularly works with the pro-Israel American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). ³

Hetfield continued, denying another allegation that HIAS had partnered with far-left feminist and BDS advocate, Linda Sarsour. Hetfield clarified that on the day of the Tree of Life shooting in 2018, in which the assailant explicitly invoked the Pittsburgh synagogue’s work with HIAS as motivation for his violence, Sarsour started a fundraiser on her personal Facebook page for the organization. HIAS did not solicit or coordinate the fundraiser. Lastly, Hetfield sought to dispel the allegation that HIAS was no longer a Jewish organization, sharing that the HIAS board of directors remains “100% Jewish” in religious and ethnic makeup. ³

Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting

On October 27, 2018, a mass shooter killed 11 people at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. The shooter targeted the synagogue for its work with HIAS. The shooter blamed Jews for the caravan of Central American migrants and asylum-seekers currently working its way slowly through Mexico to the United States, and blamed HIAS for fomenting an alleged invasion of immigrants and refugees into the United States. HIAS denied this claim, arguing that its work aims to help all refugees regardless of geography or ethnicity. ²⁵

Controversies

Post-October 7 Controversy

Following the October 7, 2023 Hamas terror attack against Israel, HIAS received criticism for allegedly abandoning of Jewish safety in the wake of the attack. In December 2023, a volunteer at HIAS Pennsylvania, was recorded helping to burn an Israeli flag and saying, “down with the Nazi regime.” Although HIAS quickly noted that HIAS Pennsylvania was an independent partner of HIAS and the volunteer unaffiliated with the global HIAS group, the organization still became the center of controversy. Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), told Jewish News Syndicate that “since Oct. 7, HIAS has again failed to prioritize Jewish safety, as HIAS did in decades gone by.” Klein claimed that by working “to bring Muslims to America, most of whom are Jew-haters and Israel-haters,” HIAS has contributed to antisemitism in America. HIAS denied these claims and said it still serves its core mission of helping refugees and Jews around the world. ⁹

Gaza Aid Controversy

After the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, HIAS executive director Mark Hetfield sent a message to the organization’s supporters, saying “HIAS is here to help.” Hetfield said HIAS was committed to restoring peace and safety “both within Israel’s internationally recognized borders, as well as the Occupied Palestinian Territory.” As a result, divisions within HIAS deepened over the issue, as some employees desired to offer aid to Palestinians in Gaza while others wanted to focus on Jewish refugees. Former HIAS employees shared with the Forward that HIAS initially designated $300,000 for Palestinians in Gaza, but that the funds were never distributed due to the internal division within HIAS. Forward reported that “more than 400 HIAS employees around the world […] signed a letter [in May 2024] criticizing that response and calling for more clarity on what, if anything, HIAS would do in Gaza.” Hetfield’s response to the division was to reaffirm that HIAS is a Zionist organization. ¹⁰

Leadership

Mark Hetfield first joined HIAS in 1989 as a caseworker in Rome, Italy. He has worked for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, and a large law firm as an immigration attorney, and has held multiple roles at HIAS. Since being named HIAS’s president and CEO in 2013, Hetfield has led the transformation of HIAS from helping explicitly Jewish refugees to helping refugees regardless of background because HIAS is a Jewish organization. Hetfield’s main role at HIAS is assisting and resettling refugees and coordinating as a major implementing partner of the United Nations Refugee Agency and the United States Department of State. He is a frequent commentator and writer on refugee issues on television, radio, newspapers, and other media outlets. Hetfield holds multiple degrees from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. ^{26 25}

Tamar Newberger is the board chair and chair of HIAS’s executive committee. She is a computer scientist who has held several executive positions in the private sector, including at AT&T Bell Labs, Novell, and several Silicon Valley start-ups. Her areas of expertise are computer security, operating systems, and technology. Her civic engagement focuses on advocating for left-of-center stances on refugee rights, education, women’s advocacy, and technology. She is the former Midwest Finance Co-Chair of Harris for President, former Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 campaign group. Newberger is also a trustee of the Francis W. Parker School in Chicago and the Jewish Women’s Foundation of Chicago. She sits on several boards, including that of The In(heir)itance Project arts organization, and she sits on the nominating committee of the Vaclav Havel Center’s Disturbing the Peace Award. Newberger’s husband, Andrew Schapiro, served as United States Ambassador to the Czech Republic in the Obama administration. ²⁷

Finances

In 2023, HIAS reported $88,116,244 in total revenue, approximately 64 percent of which came from government grants ($56,668,843). That same year, HIAS reported $130,982,122 in expenses and $94,700,498 in total assets. ²⁸

In 2022, billionaire philanthropist and ex-wife of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, MacKenzie Scott donated $10,000,000 to HIAS to help Ukrainians fleeing the country’s war with Russia as well as Jews in neighboring countries who want to relocate to the West. ⁵

Also in 2022, Prince Harry of the United Kingdom and Meghan Markle donated an undisclosed amount to HIAS through their nonprofit, the Archewell Foundation. HIAS CEO Mark Hetfield noted that the contribution from the couple marked a trend of increased donations following the start of the Russia-Ukraine war. ⁶

In April 2024, HIAS laid off 12 percent of its workforce based in the United States after discovering errors that led to “unsustainable” spending and financial mismanagement. ²⁹ Although HIAS received approximately $55,000,000 in government grants and approximately $88,000,000 in total revenue in 2023, its expenses were $130,982,122, creating a deficit of $42,865,878 for the year. ²⁸

1. Suissa, David. “Why Did Hias Move Away from Helping Jews? – Jns.Org.” Jewish News Service, April 30, 2020. https://www.jns.org/why-did-hias-move-away-from-helping-jews/.
2. “Our History.” HIAS. Accessed February 17, 2025. www.hias.org/who/history.
3. Sobel, Ariel. “The Conspiracy Theories Around HIAS, Debunked.” Jewish Journal. May 7, 2020. Accessed February 17, 2025. https://jewishjournal.com/commentary/opinion/315444/hias-jewish-refugee-resettlement-nonprofit-anti-israel-groups-debunked/
4. “Who We Are.” HIAS. Accessed February 17, 2025. https://hias.org/who/
5. Elia-Shalev, Asaf. “MacKenzie Scott, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have all donated to support HIAS’ work in Ukraine.” Jewish Telegraphic Agency. March 23, 2022. Accessed February 17, 2025. https://www.jta.org/2022/03/23/united-states/mackenzie-scott-gives-10-million-to-jewish-nonprofit-hias-for-ukraine-refugee-relief
6. Keene, Louis. “Prince Harry and Meghan Markle donate to Jewish group to help Ukrainians.” Forward. March 21, 2022. Accessed February 17, 2025. https://forward.com/fast-forward/484313/prince-harry-and-meghan-markle-donate-to-hias-to-help-ukrainians/
7. “HIAS v. Trump (U.S. District of Maryland, 2019).” Anti-Defamation League. 2019. Accessed February 17, 2025. https://www.adl.org/resources/amicus-brief/hias-v-trump-us-district-maryland-2019
8. “HIAS v. Trump: Protecting refugees against state and local veto of resettlement.” International Refugee Assistance Program. 2019. Accessed February 17, 2025. https://refugeerights.org/news-resources/hias-v-trump-protecting-refugees-against-state-and-local-veto-of-resettlement
9. Swindle, David. “HIAS accused of failing to prioritize Jewish safety after Oct. 7.” Jewish News Syndicate. December 27, 2023. Accessed February 17, 2025. https://www.jns.org/hias-accused-of-failing-to-prioritize-jewish-safety-after-oct-7/
10. Rosenfeld, Arno. “HIAS was poised to spend $300k on Gaza aid. Internal divisions stopped it.” Forward. May 23, 2024. Accessed February 17, 2025. https://forward.com/news/616120/hias-gaza-aid-jewish-israel-hetfield/
11. “Our History.” HIAS. Accessed February 16, 2025. https://hias.org/who/our-history/
12. “Resettle Refugees.” HIAS. Accessed February 17, 2025. https://hias.org/what/resettle-refugees/
13. “Resettlement Partners.” HIAS. Accessed February 17, 2025. https://hias.org/resettlement-partners/
14. “Provide Legal Support.” HIAS. Accessed February 17, 2025. https://hias.org/what/provide-legal-support/
15. “End Violence Against Women.” HIAS. Accessed February 17, 2025. https://hias.org/what/end-violence-against-women/
16. “What We Do.” HIAS. Accessed February 17, 2025. https://hias.org/what/
17. “Center for Refugee Policy – Home.” HIAS. Accessed February 17, 2025. https://hias.org/center-refugee-policy/
18. “HIAS-Asylum-Seeker-Needs-Assessment-NYC-DMV-2024.” HIAS. Accessed June 2024. February 17, 2025. https://hias.org/wp-content/uploads/HIAS-Asylum-Seeker-Needs-Assessment-NYC-DMV-2024.pdf
19. “HIAS and ADL Raise Grave Concerns Over Deportation of Asylum Seekers from Israel.” HIAS. January 15, 2018. Accessed February 17, 2025. https://hias.org/news/hias-and-adl-raise-grave-concerns-over-deportation-of-asylum-seekers-from-israel/
20. “Statement on Expansion of Travel Ban.” HIAS. January 31, 2020. Accessed February 17, 2025. https://hias.org/statements/statement-expansion-travel-ban/
21.  “New Lawsuit Challenges Trump Suspension of Refugee Resettlement  Program and Freeze of Refugee Funding.” HIAS. February 10, 2025. Accessed February 17, 2025. https://hias.org/statements/new-lawsuit-challenges-trump-suspension-refugee-resettlement-program-and-freeze-refugee-funding/
22. “Refugee Rights and the Trump Administration: Week Four.” HIAS. February 14, 2025. Accessed February 17, 2025. https://hias.org/news/refugee-rights-and-trump-administration-week-four/
23. Beaumont, Peter and Holmes, Oliver. “Israel suspends plan to resettle African asylum seekers despite deal.” The Guardian. April 2, 2018. Accessed February 17, 2025.  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/02/israel-agrees-un-deal-scrap-plan-deport-african-asylum-seekers
24. “U.S. Government Ordered to Comply with Court Orders in Refugee Ban Lawsuit or Face Sanctions.” CWS Global, May 6, 2025. https://cwsglobal.org/press-releases/u-s-government-ordered-to-comply-with-court-orders-in-refugee-ban-lawsuit-or-face-sanctions/.
25. Lind, Dara. “HIAS, the Jewish refugee-aid group targeted by the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter, explained by its president.” VOX. October 29, 2018. Accessed February 17, 2025. https://www.vox.com/2015/9/25/9392151/hias-jewish-refugees-immigrants
26. “Mark Hetfeld.” HIAS. Accessed February 17, 2025. https://hias.org/team/mark-hetfield
27. “Tamar Newberger.” HIAS. Accessed February 17, 2025. https://hias.org/team/tamar-newberger
28. “Hias Inc – 2023 Federal Form 990.” ProPublica. Accessed February 17, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/135633307/202402279349300725/full
29. Keene, Louis and Rosenfeld, Arno. “HIAS lays off 12% of US staff after ‘unsustainable’ spending.” HIAS. April 11, 2024. Accessed February 17, 2025. https://forward.com/news/601816/hias-layoff-12-unsustainable-jewish-immigrant/