Refugees International Remembers Jimmy Carter

Statement from Refugees International:

“Refugees International mourns the loss of former President Jimmy Carter, a steadfast advocate for human rights and a champion for displaced people.

President Carter’s commitment to refugees was integral to our founding as an organization. Refugees International was formed as a citizen’s movement in 1979 in response to the mass exodus and death at sea of people fleeing Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. 

On July 19, 1979, Refugees International founders joined thousands of people at a concert featuring Joan Baez in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Together they called for support for the Southeast Asian refugees and led an evening candle-lit march to the White House, urging then president Jimmy Carter to act. As they approached the White House, President Carter himself walked out to greet demonstrators and told the crowd that he had ordered the U.S. Seventh Fleet to rescue people at sea and bring them to safety. 

“We can’t let your people die,” he promised the marchers, many of whom were from Vietnam.

President Carter’s leadership continued to his last days in the White House when he signed the 1980 U.S. Refugee Act. This monumental legislation created today’s U.S. refugee resettlement program, which has since brought more than 3 million people to safety in the United States. 

President Carter’s legacy will continue to inspire us in the fight for refugee rights and gives us enduring hope for the promise of moral leadership in the face of global displacement.” 

For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact Etant Dupain at edupain@refugeesinternational.org.