In recent years, Congress has enacted several pieces of legislation that attempt to keep terrorists from obtaining immigration status in the United States.  The USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 and the REAL ID Act of 2005 amended U.S. immigration laws to expand the definition of a "terrorist organization" and, in turn, dramatically broadened the class of people that are barred from admission to the United States for having provided material support to terrorists.  In practice these laws have prevented many genuine asylum seekers from gaining protection in the United States-including, ironically, those who were victims of terrorist activity.