Author’s Note I have gained endless inspiration from the girls and young women I have met in communities across the United States and around the world. Whether on the frontlines of protests and movements, leading classrooms and communities in refugee camps, or facing a migration journey alone, girls continue to rise, speak out, and dream […]
Category: Policy and Advocacy
Protecting the Promise of Travel in a Travel Ban Era
On June 4, 2025, the U.S. Government imposed a travel ban that impacted nationals from 19 countries. Proclamation 10949, “Restricting the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats,” stated that the Executive Branch has authority to block the entry of noncitizens if […]
Afghanistan’s Earthquake is Man’s Disaster
This week, a 6.0 magnitude earthquake hit Afghanistan’s mountainous Kunar province, located along its eastern border with Pakistan. Two subsequent earthquakes, measuring 5.5 magnitude and 6.2, inflicted further devastation. Early reports from the Taliban count 2,205 dead, with the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) estimating that 1.3 million people are affected by the […]
Made in China: Forced Labor and the Uyghur People
The plight of the Uyghur people, and members of other predominantly Muslim ethnic minority groups, in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), and across China, has drawn international concern for nearly a decade. Various reports and evidence indicate that Chinese authorities have constructed a system of repression involving arbitrary detention, mass surveillance, forced assimilation, and […]
Navigating Instability: A Country Conditions Overview of South Sudan
South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, continues to grapple with profound political, economic, and humanitarian challenges more than a decade after gaining independence on July 9, 2011. Despite hopes for peace and stability, the country has experienced recurring cycles of armed conflict, fragile governance, and widespread displacement. The consequences of civil war, coupled with ongoing […]
Rohingya Genocide Remembrance Day: Eight Years After the Genocide, Recommitting to the Rohingya Today
Seizing the attention and sympathy of the international community in 2017, more than 700,000 Rohingya refugees were forced to flee widespread persecution and violence at the hands of Myanmar’s military junta to neighboring Bangladesh. Entire communities were uprooted as villages were burned, and countless lives were devastated by killings, rapes, and other atrocities. The United […]
Independence Day of Ukraine: Situation and Displacement Update
As Ukraine commemorates its independence on August 24, displacement continues to affect millions of people in Ukraine and across the globe. On July 31, 2025, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported over 5.6 million refugees from Ukraine globally. About 90 percent of refugees are in Europe. Over 3.3 million people are internally displaced […]
CHNV Humanitarian Parole Revoked: A Shift in U.S. Policy Towards Cuban Exiles
Earlier this year, humanitarian parole protections for individuals covered by the Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan (CHNV) parole program were categorically revoked, placing more than 500,000 people at risk of deportation. More than 100,000 Cubans were covered by the program. Driven by Cold War politics, the United States has long pledged itself as an ally […]
DRC and Rwanda: Safe Repatriations
On June 27, 2025, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda signed a Peace Agreement, with the hope of ending recent hostilities between DRC forces and Rwandan-sponsored M23 rebel forces. In the Peace Agreement, DRC and Rwanda have agreed to “facilitate the safe, voluntary, and dignified return of refugees.” Namely, they are referring […]
Four Years After the Fall of Kabul
During the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan, more than 2,000 U.S. military personnel died—and alongside them, an uncounted number of Afghans who served in the American forces. Recruited as interpreters, medics, engineers, and other professionals, they risked their lives to accompany U.S. troops into the field. In 2006, Congress first established the Special Immigrant Visa […]
