A child who is separated from their parent or caregiver does not experience a policy decision; rather, they experience fear, confusion, and a complete collapse of the world they trust. Globally, family separation—particularly the forced or involuntary separation of parents and children—is a profound human rupture. It is measured in the enduring trauma of sudden […]
Category: Policy Briefs
Policy and Advocacy Newsletter: VOLUME 9 | ISSUE NO.5 January 30, 2026
Our Policy and Advocacy Newsletter introduces our latest project: From the Archives. For more than a century, the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants has advocated for the rights and dignity of refugees. For our 115th anniversary, we are revisiting our archives to pair earlier works with contemporary reflections on how the lessons of history resonate today. Looking […]
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 […]
The Struggle for Documentation in Mexico’s Asylum System: The Human Impact of Withholding the TVRH
By Ana Martinez, Welcoming Communities Program Intern at USCRI Mexico covering the protection and integration of migrants, returnees, asylum seekers and refugees in Mexico and Central America. Introduction A single mother and her daughter from Cuba arrived in Mexico seeking safety. Under Mexican law, they should have received a Tarjeta de Visitante por Razones Humanitarias (TVRH), or Visitor’s Card for Humanitarian Reasons, the official document that grants asylum seekers temporary access […]
The Danger of Globally Institutionalizing Third Country Returns
Third country deportations should not be used as a tool for immigration enforcement. Often used as a tool to manage a politicized migration “problem,” third country deportations have the potential to normalize rights-free zones, forced exile, and indefinite detention. In February 2025, DHS issued a policy directive on third country deportations. The policy proposes forcibly […]
The Loss of America’s Truckers: The Revocation of Commercial Driver’s Licenses from Refugees and Asylees
By Alexia Gardner, USCRI Policy Analyst You can listen to this brief here “We refugees are the lifeblood of America… We hold a sacred profession—truck driving— and we deliver to you all the materials, from the food you eat and the clothes you wear to the car you drive and the supplies used […]
Everything She Can Be: Honoring the Power of Girls Everywhere
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
