As World Refugee Day approaches, we’re returning to work that has never stopped being relevant. More than two decades ago, USCRI launched a global campaign to end refugee warehousing—the prolonged denial of refugees’ rights through restrictions on movement, employment, and self-reliance, often in camps or other segregated settings. Warehousing leaves millions of displaced people trapped in conditions […]
Category: USCRI Blog
A Century of Service, A Call to Action: USCRI Network Convenes in Arlington
Last week, USCRI convened some of the nation’s oldest refugee and immigrant service agencies in Arlington, Virginia. Drawing on more than a century of collective experience, we reaffirmed our shared mission: to protect, support, and stand with refugees and immigrants around the world. The USCRI network was born in response to one of the largest [...]
Challenging Asylum, Green Card, and Citizenship Processing Holds: A USCRI Q&A with Milagro Sique, CEO of Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island
Written and edited by: Rachel Ryu, Staff Attorney, USCRI Humanitarian Legal Services Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island, a regional partner of USCRI, strives to create a welcoming environment for all, working to position the most vulnerable among us for more than 100 years. A non-profit 501(c)(3), Dorcas International offers adult education, language learning, job training, citizenship and […]
Introducing Dream Keepers: Monthly Support for Unaccompanied Refugee Girls
Kakuma Refugee Camp in northwestern Kenya is home to over 300,000 refugees. For the unaccompanied girls living there, daily life means navigating hunger, exploitation, and the near-constant threat of child marriage and violence. Drastic cuts to humanitarian funding have stripped away basic services, leaving some of the most vulnerable children without food, school supplies, or menstrual hygiene products. USCRI Kenya's Keep [...]
No Two Hands Sign the Same
In recognition of Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month, we want to share a story from USCRI Vermont that stayed with us — one that reshaped how we think about language, disability, and what it truly means to welcome someone. When we learned that a young client from Northern Africa would be arriving in the United […]
Happy Social Work Day!
Every day, USCRI social workers stand alongside refugees and immigrants as they rebuild their lives, navigate complex systems, and find safety and stability in new communities. Their compassion, dedication, and advocacy make this work possible. We celebrate the people who show up each day to support others and strengthen communities. “Social work is deeply […]
Anniversary of The Refugee Act
March 17 marks the 46th anniversary of the Refugee Act of 1980, which has helped make it possible for more than 3 million refugees to find safety in the United States, including over 400,000 welcomed by USCRI. Behind every number is a story of resilience, courage, and hope for a better future. As we reflect […]
Finding Care Without Support in Dzaleka Refugee Camp
By: Rachel Ryu, Policy Analyst, and Adson Mphepo, Rights Activist on Unaccompanied and Separated Child Refugees Dzaleka Refugee Camp is Malawi’s largest refugee camp. Established in 1994, the camp was built on the site of a former prison to accommodate up to 12,000 refugees. At the end of 2025, it housed over 60,000 refugees, […]
War in a Fragile Region: Three Issues to Watch in the Middle East
by Will Evans, Policy Analyst As conflict escalates in the Middle East, growing numbers of civilians are being forced to flee their homes with early reports showing hundreds of thousands displaced internally in Iran and neighboring countries. Given the pace of escalation, all displacement figures cited here reflect a snapshot in time at the date of publication and will likely continue […]
At Home, a Stranger: Challenges for New Returnees in El Salvador
by Ana Martínez, 2025 Welcoming Communities Program Intern at USCRI Mexico(2025) Edited by Alexia Gardner (Policy Analyst) and Anum Merchant (Policy Intern) Imagine building a life in a country for more than a decade—becoming integrated into the community and coming to consider a place home—only to be uprooted and abruptly sent somewhere that now feels like a distant memory. […]
