The Lautenberg Amendment excluded as many religions as it included. The Indian legislation excludes only one: Islam

In the “Battle to Keep India Secular” (Houses of Worship, Jan. 3), Tunku Varadarajan asks readers to imagine a scenario in which the U.S. Congress legislated a program that fast-tracked refugees from select religions as India has recently done. It should be noted that U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg pushed such legislation in 1989. The Lautenberg Amendment excluded as many religions as it included. The Indian legislation excludes only one: Islam. Additionally, the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966 selectively grants Cuban émigrés permanent residency, denying the same benefits to other Latin American refugees, many of whom were.