History

100 Years of USCRI

1910

New York, 1910

Photo of Ellis Island

Three-quarters of New York City’s population was either an immigrant or a first generation American.

1911

New York City, 1911

edith terry bremer

Edith Terry Bremer, a young social worker, opened the first International Institute in New York City, providing social and legal services to immigrant girls and women.

1920

Foreign Language Information Service, 1920s

Publication covers

The International Institute of New York was succeeded by the Foreign Language Information Service (FLIS). The FLIS began distributing publications on immigration developments to the press and updated the legal community on immigration laws.

1934

Common Council for American Unity, 1934

Cover of 1942 issue of Common Ground

FLIS became the Common Council for American Unity (CCAU) and launched a new publication. Common Ground was a quarterly journal publishing fiction and non-fiction works stressing cultural pluralism and ethnic harmony. Langston Hughes, a celebrated American writer who wrote about the African American community, published his poetry, essays, song lyrics and sketches.

1959

American Council for Nationalities Services, 1959

American Council for Nationalities Services, 1959

The CCAU merged with the American Federation of International Institutes to form the American Council for Nationalities Services (ACNS). ACNS continued the work of its predecessor organizations, including maintaining the Interpreter Releases and How to Become a Citizen of the United States.

1979

ACNS Joined with the U.S. Committee for Refugees, 1979

ACNS Joined with the U.S. Committee for Refugees, 1979

ACNS joined with the U.S. Committee for Refugees (USCR) to publish the World Refugee Survey. It was a uniquely comprehensive and in-depth review of global trends in refugees with feature articles on national and global issues, specific countries, global aggregate and country statistics, analyses of root causes and potential solutions

1994

Immigration and Refugee Services of America, 1994

foreign policy2

ACNS became the Immigration and Refugee Services of America. Our campaign to end refugee warehousing was awarded “The Best Small Idea” by Foreign Policy.

2004

U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, 2004

U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, 2004

ACNS changed its name to U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI).

2011

Centennial, 2011

Cynee Simpson_and Chris_Spencer

Our gala to celebrate 100 years of service.

2020

Today

montage

Today USCRI serves people from around the world who have immigrated to the U.S. seeking those same American values—freedom and opportunity.