For World Refugee Day, the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) hosted the virtual panel New Beginnings, where former refugees had the opportunity to share how their personal stories led them to work for other refugees today. Moderated by USCRI Policy Analyst Aaron Escajeda, the panel features USCRI North Carolina Field Office Director Omer […]
Category: Policy and Advocacy
Summit of the Americas: U.S. Commitments Fall Flat Amid Continuation of Title 42
With the conclusion of the Ninth Summit of the Americas, the Biden administration issued the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection. This declaration includes commitments to protect and respect the safety, dignity, human rights, and fundamental freedoms of all migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, and stateless persons, regardless of migratory status. These commitments center around […]
USCRI Policy – Addressing Forced Displacement in the Central African Republic (CAR)
On April 28th, the Governments of the Central African Republic (CAR), Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the Republic of the Congo, Chad, Sudan, and South Sudan, resolved to deliver durable solutions for the 1.4 million Central Africans forcibly displaced by decades of conflict. In partnership with United Nations Refugee agency (UNHCR), the alliance […]
USCRI Policy Brief: Allies Welcome Phase I & II Analysis – Domestic & International Intermediary Sites
The National Conference Center in Leesburg, VA has the essence of a college campus. In between the three primary buildings, weaving sidewalks converge into multiple open spaces where people can gather to eat, sit, socialize, play frisbee, or watch the squirrels run amuck. While typically used as a corporate convention and training space, the National […]
Fact Sheet – Documentation and Benefit Eligibility for Ukrainians
Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the number of Ukrainians seeking safety in the United States has rapidly risen. This fact sheet outlines the three main legal pathways and their corresponding benefit eligibility, that Ukrainians are utilizing in the United States. These include 1) Temporary Protected Status (TPS); 2) Humanitarian Parole and […]
USCRI Policy Brief – A Spotlight on Family Reunification: the Central American Minors (CAM) Program
The CAM Program was created under the Obama administration in 2014 as a response to a rise in unaccompanied children arriving to the U.S.-Mexico border. As a family reunification tool, the CAM Program allows children who are living in dangerous conditions in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador to travel to the United States as either […]
USCRI Policy Brief – New Asylum Rule: More Steps and Shorter Timelines
The new asylum rule has made significant changes to one of the two pathways to asylum in the United States. Most significantly, the new rule establishes a positive credible fear determination as the application for asylum, a new asylum merits interview conducted by an asylum officer (AO), and the use of a status conference in […]
USCRI Denounces Continuation of Title 42 after Judge’s Ruling
On Friday, a Louisiana federal district judge ruled to continue the use of Title 42, an obscure provision of public health law that allows border officials to rapidly expel asylum seekers and migrants to Mexico or their home countries without due process. This comes ahead of the Biden administration’s May 23 deadline to end the […]
Celebrating Jason Lin during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
We are excited to celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in May, which was chosen to commemorate the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7, 1843, and to mark the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869, given that the majority of the workers who […]
USCRI Statement on Authorization of Refugee Benefits for Ukrainians
The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) welcomes the recent passage by the U.S. Congress of a supplemental spending bill that, among other things, authorizes refugee benefits for Ukrainian parolees. Ukrainians who were paroled into the country between February 24, 2022, and September 30, 2023, will generally be eligible for benefits to the same [...]
