The former US ambassador to the Kingdom of Bahrain confirmed that the problem of illegal immigration is a persistent problem in US domestic affairs and that the solution must come from US lawmakers and work to change asylum laws, ruling out that humanitarian aid to South American countries can reduce illegal immigration.
The U.S. Senate confirmed Joseph Adam Ereli to be Ambassador to Bahrain on June 28, 2007. Ereli earned B.A. in history from Yale in 1982 and an M.A. in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in 1989. Before entering the foreign service in 1989, he worked as a journalist and human rights activist in Paris, France. Ereli began his career with the Foreign Service in 1989 as a Junior Officer in Cairo, Egypt He then served as Program Officer in Damascus, Syria, Cultural Affairs Officer in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and Public Affairs Officer in Sanaa, Yemen. In Washington, Ereli has served as Director of Office of Press and Public Affairs in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs and as Director of the Office of Press Relations in the Bureau of Public Affairs. From 2000 to 2003, Ereli was the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Doha, Qatar. From 2003 to 2006, he was the Deputy Spokesman of the State Department, and thereafter served as Senior Advisor to the Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy for Overseas Communications in London. On May 31, 2008, Ereli arrived in Baghdad, Iraq, to serve as Public Affairs Counselor at the U.S. Embassy. He will return to his post as ambassador to Bahrain after completing his mission in Iraq. Ereli speaks French and Arabic.
