By the time Amchok Gyamtso turned 10, he had survived the murder of his father and grandfather, had lost his mother to a forced labor camp, and was himself sent to a work camp by Chinese authorities. If it were not for political asylum in America, he said, he might not be free – or perhaps even alive – today.

Recently, Tibetan refugees have been coming to Mr. Gyamtso, a Queens resident, worried they will not be granted a similar opportunity. Tighter asylum rules under a federal homeland security measure have shot fear into refugee communities and sparked criticism from a wide spectrum of religious groups.

“People are very nervous and scared,” Mr. Gyamtso said. “Political asylum is, I would say, one of the most significant programs of procedure for people whose lives are really in danger.”

By the end of the week, President Bush is expected to sign an $82 billion bill for supplemental military spending that contains immigration measures known as the Real ID Act. Included in the Real ID Act are provisions that would change the country’s laws for granting asylum.

“The law will allow the government to deny asylum based solely on minor, immaterial inconsistencies, like a mistaken remembering of a date of a graduation,” said the director of the asylum program at Human Rights First, Eleanor Acer, said.

Asylum applicants will now be under a heavier obligation to prove they would be persecuted in their native country. There are welcome changes, too: One would take away the cap on asylums for applicants fleeing forced sterilization; another would reduce the waiting period for people who have been granted asylum and are awaiting their green cards.

Rep. James Sensenbrenner, a Republican from Wisconsin who was the lead sponsor of the bill, has said these measures will make the country safer from future terrorist attacks and ferret out false asylum claims.

“Terrorist aliens have been abusing our asylum system for years,” a spokesman for Mr. Sensenbrenner, Jeff Lungren, said. “Many have applied for asylum, and many have been released from detention to plot or commit their crimes.”

Mr. Lungren cited Mir Aimal Kansi, who murdered two CIA employees, and Ramzi Yousef, who masterminded the 1993 World Trade Center attack.

The measures’ opponents, however, point out that both men acted before 1996 asylum reforms, and none of the September 11, 2001, terrorists had claimed asylum. They also note that asylum cases have dropped sharply recently. The rate at which refugees have been granted asylum has dropped by 32% over the past three years. Over that same period, America has received 48% fewer requests for asylum.

Human Rights First, known then as Lawyer’s Committee for Human Rights, took on Mr. Gyamtso’s case when he arrived just over a decade ago. It took two years for his asylum request to be granted, and physical and psychological examinations were required to help prove his case.

Mr. Gyamtso worries that others in similar situations may no longer be able to receive asylum. The provisions could deny a refugee based on his or her demeanor or inconsistencies in testimony.

“Before you are granted your safety in this country, your mental level is very unsteady,” Mr. Gyamtso said. “At times you are very devastated…and you are not sure if you are safe in this country or whether you will be returned to the situation of being tortured. That combination makes people scared.”

The Senate voted unanimously for the military spending bill on Monday, but Senator Clinton said the Real ID provisions should not have been voted on without a hearing. She singled out the asylum provisions as particularly troubling because they will limit America’s role as a safe haven.

While stressing the need to increase public security and reform the immigration system, Mrs. Clinton warned that “a piecemeal attempt to address immigration problems window-dressed as national security is not the solution.”

Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a fellow Democrat, unsuccessfully sponsored an amendment to take the asylum provisions out of the budget bill. Many religious and immigrant organizations said they opposed the Real ID Act because it would distract from comprehensive immigration reform, along with potentially making asylum more difficult for applicants.

“The faith-based and nonsectarian groups that have been working on seeking a positive immigration debate in this country were disturbed to see Congress begin with the Real ID approach,” the vice president for government relations and public policy at the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, Gideon Aronoff, said.

However, Senators Kennedy of Massachusetts and McCain of Arizona are expected to introduce new legislation today that includes a temporary worker program, a path to legalization for illegal immigrants, and new approaches to border security.