August 24, 2021 Arlington, VA– This very moment, tens of thousands of Afghans are desperately trying to flee the fundamentalist and oppressive rule of the Taliban, and resettle in the United States. Yet, the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan, particularly in the capital city of Kabul, has made it extremely challenging for any American-affiliated or […]
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Not a Numbers Game: Human Faces of the Crisis in Afghanistan
Many of us have been shaken by recent news of the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan. As news outlets report staggering numbers of people in danger, it can be easy to decontextualize those large figures from the humans they reflect. USCRI, and other refugee resettlement agencies and human rights organizations across the United States, have received […]
Afghan Mother Pleads for her Children’s Safety
Suneeta, an Afghan woman living as a lawful permanent resident in Albany, New York, has four children who live in Kabul, Afghanistan, aged seventeen, fifteen, nine, and seven. Suneeta’s husband, the father of her children, worked with the U.S. Military as an interpreter and Team Leader with the security forces at Camp Eggers. He disappeared […]
U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) Backgrounder: Cameroon
After many years of being considered one of Africa’s more peaceful countries, Cameroon is now struggling with the combined threats of a civil war in the south, terrorist attacks in the north, increasing political corruption, and the negative impacts of climate change. As a result, Cameroon is seeing high numbers of internally displaced persons within […]
USCRI Policy Snapshot: A situational update on Haiti and Cuba
On July 13, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas warned that people fleeing Haiti and Cuba by boat would not be permitted in the United States. “The time is never right to attempt migration by sea. To those who risk their lives doing so, this risk is not worth taking,” he said at a Department […]
U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants’ Statement on the Arrival of the First Afghan Allies
The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants commends the Biden administration for facilitating the safe arrival of the first Afghan allies early this morning. Additionally, we are grateful to U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy, Jeanne Shaheen, and Richard Shelby, for swiftly passing H.R. 3237 last night, and U.S. Representatives Steny Hoyer, Jason Crow, Seth Moulton, and […]
Statement of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants on the 70th Anniversary of the Refugee Convention
On today’s 70th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention, USCRI reflects on the progress made over the past 70 years in the rights of refugees. In the aftermath of World War II, states came together to define who a refugee is and to lay out refugees’ fundamental human rights and the world’s obligation to ensure […]
Title 42: What It Is and How You Can Help End It
“Title 42” refers to an obscure provision of U.S. law that was originally enacted in 1944 to allow the government to quarantine people entering the country if necessary “to prevent the introduction, transmission, or spread of communicable diseases.” At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Trump administration officials required the Centers for Disease Control and […]
Safety and Fairness for Afghans under the Special Immigrant Visa Program
On June 4, both Republican and Democratic lawmakers and a group of over 70 NGOs, including the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI), sent letters to President Biden urging him to protect U.S.- affiliated Afghans in the wake of U.S. troop withdrawal. Currently, around 18,000 Afghan nationals who have provided service to the U.S. […]
As A Former Refugee, I am Part of America’s Story
By Eskinder Negash As a former refugee, World Refugee Day has a special significance for me. Over forty years ago, I left behind everything I knew to begin my life in a country that opened its doors to people like me. Like many African refugees, I was forced out of my country to reimagine my […]
