Updated: December 17, 2025 Regardless of immigration status, all individuals in the United States have guaranteed rights under the Constitution. The following guide is to inform survivors of human trafficking, asylum seekers, parolees, and other non-U.S. citizens of their legal rights in various situations with law enforcement and immigration officers. The Know Your Rights guide contains […]
Category: Asylum
USCRI Raises Alarm Over TPS Termination as Haiti Faces Record-Level Displacement
The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) is alarmed by the Administration’s recent decision to again terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti, effective February 3, 2026. This action will place over 350,000 Haitian nationals at risk of returning to volatile and life-threatening conditions in Haiti. These are the same conditions for which the U.S. Department of State issued a “Level 4: Do Not Travel” advisory. Many Haitians with TPS have lived, worked, and raised […]
Policy & Advocacy: Volume 9 | Issue No.4 December 11, 2025
P&A Monthly Snapshot Since our last newsletter, the Policy & Advocacy team has been busy, leading a 60+- organization letter supporting the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, issuing a statement on the Administration’s decision to end TPS for Burma, reporting on the refugee reinterview plan, and continuing our coverage from last month’s brief on institutionalizing third-country […]
Behind the Brief: The Danger of Institutionalizing Third Country Returns
By: Rachel Ryu, Policy Analyst at USCRI This “Behind the Brief” accompanies Policy & Advocacy’s Brief from Volume 9, Issue No. 3, “The Danger of Globally Institutionalizing Third Country Returns,” originally published on November 19, 2025. You can find the complete brief at the end. Reason Behind the Brief Return hubs and third country returns […]
Lessons from Libya for Addressing Syrian Displacement
The First Libyan Civil War and the Syrian Civil War were part of the broader Arab Spring uprisings that began in late 2010 and spread across the Middle East and North Africa. Both civil wars began in 2011 and emerged from a wave of protests demanding democratic reforms and an end to authoritarian regimes. In […]
Island of Peace No More: Forced Migration from Ecuador
Cover photo: Fundación Municipal Bienal de Cuenca Ecuador, wedged between decades-long civil wars in Colombia and Peru, was once known as an island of peace in the Andes. In 2020, it had a homicide rate of 6.7 per 100,000 inhabitants, one of the lowest in the region. Today, drug trafficking and associated gang violence have […]
CALL TO ACTION – Mariposas de la Frontera: Uplifting the Stories of Asylum Seekers at the U.S.- Mexico Border
CALL TO ACTION –Mariposas de la Frontera: Uplifting the Stories of Asylum Seekers at the U.S.-Mexico Border Join USCRI & IINE in uplifting the voices of #lasmariposasdelafrontera, asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border! Over the past two years, the U.S. Government has made considerable changes to asylum and migrant processing at the southern U.S. border. […]
An Open Letter to Asylum Seekers
Dear asylum seekers, The U.S. Government has taken the liberty to determine that certain individuals fleeing persecution deserve safety more than others, and as asylum seekers coming to the U.S.-Mexico border, unfortunately, your plight does not measure up. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you fleeing conflict and war, human rights violations, and […]
Las Mariposas de la Frontera: One Asylum Seeker’s Search for Safety
Over the past two years, the current administration has made considerable changes to asylum and migrant processing at the southern U.S. border. Most recently, on June 4, the President issued a Proclamation on “Securing the Border,” which built upon previous regulations to effectively close the U.S.-Mexico border to asylum seekers and other migrants. Along with […]
USCRI Condemns the Effective Closure of the Border to Asylum Seekers
President Biden today issued a Proclamation on “Securing the Border,” which effectively closes the southern U.S. border to asylum seekers and other migrants. The proclamation limits and suspends the entry of any noncitizen into the United States across the southern border—unless they meet an exception—effective at 12:01 a.m. Eastern daylight time on June 5, 2024. […]
