America’s supply chains are entrenched in a dangerous tolerance for profiteering off the multiple vulnerabilities of unaccompanied children in the United States. On February 25, 2023, a startling New York Times report was published detailing the exploitation of hundreds of unaccompanied children for their labor across the United States. The report named some of the […]
Category: Policy and Advocacy
Chapter Five: Haiti Earthquake
The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) and The Children’s Village present chapter five, of Where We Stand: A 20-Year Retrospective of the Unaccompanied Children’s Program in the United States. The retrospective will review the Unaccompanied Children’s Program from the passage of the Homeland Security Act (HSA) of 2002 until today. It assesses 20 years of legislation, policies, litigation, and, most importantly, the […]
Policy Brief – Vying for Work: Risk Factors, Push Factors, and Human Trafficking
This Policy Brief represents a segment of one chapter in a larger forthcoming report based on a USCRI field visit to Bangladesh in December 2022. This chapter focuses on the evolving human trafficking situation for Rohingya refugees in camps in the Cox’s Bazar district of Bangladesh. For more information on this field visit, read our […]
USCRI Expresses Concern About Plans to Enhance the Use of Expedited Removal
The undersigned 91 civil, human, and immigrant rights groups write to express our deep concern with the announcement, and confirmation in the notice of proposed rulemaking, that your administration plans to enhance the use of expedited removal, and to reiterate our opposition to the punitive policies the administration is considering implementing along the border after […]
Chapter 4 Part 2: Special Immigrant Juvenile Status
The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) and The Children’s Village present chapter four, part two of Where We Stand: A 20-Year Retrospective of the Unaccompanied Children’s Program in the United States. The retrospective will review the Unaccompanied Children’s Program from the passage of the Homeland Security Act (HSA) of 2002 until today. It […]
Policy Brief: Benefits, employment, sponsorship, and other issues for Ukrainian parolees one year after Russia’s invasion
On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine—with its military launching missile and rocket attacks in cities across Ukraine and its ground troops moving in from the north, east, and south into Ukrainian territory. One year later, the war has created vast humanitarian needs. The United Nations estimates that 17.6 million people […]
Administration Enroute to Institute a Transit Ban on Asylum and Expand the Use of Expedited Removal: USCRI Urges the Administration to Reverse Course
In a filing with the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this week, the current administration moved forward with its intent to “place additional conditions on asylum eligibility” after the use of Title 42 ends. This builds upon the January 5 announcement, from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to implement new border enforcement measures. Despite hundreds […]
Black History Month Spotlight: Tanisha Elizaire
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel” — Maya Angelou These are the words Tanisha Elizaire, Associate Director of USCRI’s Refugee Health Services Program, lives by. Elizaire has worked in the health field for more than […]
Policy Brief: Expedited Removal – A Deterrent, not a Solution
As news arises that the Biden administration will begin to increase the use of expedited removal and fast-tracked asylum screenings, policy analyst Aaron Nodjomian-Escajeda examines expedited removal, exceptions to it, and concerns over its increased use. Non-U.S. citizens or nationals encountered at the southern border without a visa or other valid travel documents (undocumented immigrants) […]
USCRI Releases Report on Private Sponsorship After Welcome Corps Launch
The United States has launched a pilot program for private sponsorship of refugees, a significant development in how the country welcomes displaced people through its refugee admissions. Private refugee sponsorship models already exist in other countries—and in recent months the United States has increasingly asked individuals and communities to help sponsor people displaced from nations […]
