Our policy and advocacy
is evidence-based and results-oriented.

At USCRI, our policy and advocacy is data-driven and evidenced-based. Our approach is focused on influencing decisions about policies--both domestic and global--that affect the lives of refugees both here and abroad. Although our primary audience is decision-makers, we are committed to a broad based advocacy approach that partners with other civil society organizations and public influencers. Our focus is on five thematic areas: refugee resettlement and warehousing; child migration; environmental migrants; asylum rights; and trafficking in persons.

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Our Policy and Advocacy

We are a trusted source of evidence-based policy and advocacy expertise.

As of 2020, more than 70 million people around the world had been forcibly displaced from their homes. The Policy and Advocacy Division brings expertise from direct experience working with forced and voluntary migrants. In addition, we synthesize insights from USCRI’s programs with unaccompanied children, legal services, refugee resettlement, and victims of human trafficking to identify and create solutions for individuals whose protection needs fall outside legal definitions of refugee or asylee.

In recent years, the changing world environment has exacerbated migration pressures worldwide. With global climate change, desertification, and rising oceans, the concept of “environmental refugees” has gained prominence in policy discussions and public consciousness. Environmental refugees are those migrants forced to leave their homes due to environmental disruption that jeopardizes their existence and quality of life. As a signing member of InterAction’s Global Compact on Environmental Refugees, USCRI’s Policy and Advocacy Division develops innovative policy around this more novel area of environmental-refugee advocacy to ensure that these vulnerable refugees access the rights afforded to them under international law.

Thousands of refugee and immigrant children come to the United States alone or with their families each year, many having fled life-threatening dangers in their countries of origin. The Policy and Advocacy Division brings policy expertise to advocacy at the federal level, and translates what we see on the ground as a direct provider of services to unaccompanied child migrants through our shelter, implements what . In particular, USCRI engages in developing improved policy and advocating for vulnerable children in migration in the following areas: expanding legal protection for unaccompanied children, improving child welfare during and after government custody, extending post-release services and enlarging the number of child advocates, expanding of the Unaccompanied Refugee Minor (URM) program, enhancing screening for trafficking at U.S. borders, and increasing targeted programming for child migrants in Central America, among others.

In the United States, the scope of both domestic and foreign-national human trafficking is significant. Although the exact figures are unknown, most estimates converge on tens of thousands to low hundreds of thousands of new cases annually. As the national grantee of the Trafficking Victim Assistance Program (TVAP), USCRI is in a unique position to view trafficking issues across the United States and instigate policy changes based on the realities seen through the eyes of survivors. USCRI advocates for the following policy changes in the area of trafficking in persons: removing barriers in the certification process for survivors to receive benefits and services, an expedited visa process and work authorization for survivors, and increased funding for survivor services, among others.

Thousands of refugee and immigrant children come to the United States alone or with their families each year, many having fled life-threatening dangers in their countries of origin. The Policy and Advocacy Division brings policy expertise to advocacy at the federal level, and translates what we see on the ground as a direct provider of services to unaccompanied child migrants through our shelter, implements what . In particular, USCRI engages in developing improved policy and advocating for vulnerable children in migration in the following areas: expanding legal protection for unaccompanied children, improving child welfare during and after government custody, extending post-release services and enlarging the number of child advocates, expanding of the Unaccompanied Refugee Minor (URM) program, enhancing screening for trafficking at U.S. borders, and increasing targeted programming for child migrants in Central America, among others.

Our Latest

USCRI Calls on Congress to...

Current negotiations surrounding President Biden’s proposed budget have included suggested rollbacks of critical asylum protections, such as raising the credible fear...

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Policy Brief: Let us not...

In anticipation of Human Rights Day on December 10, Policy Analyst Aaron Nodjomian-Escajeda discusses the United States' responsibility in upholding...

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The 2023 Global Refugee Forum

From December 13 to 15, the Global Refugee Forum (GRF) will be held in Geneva, Switzerland. It is the largest...

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Learning is a Lifeline: Access...

Across the globe conflicts are becoming increasingly protracted, new escalations of violence are occurring, climate disasters are more frequent, and...

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Pakistan Must End Campaign Targeting...

Millions of Afghan refugees in Pakistan are at risk under a Pakistan government decree for Afghan nationals to repatriate to...

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Policy Brief: “The Abyss of...

Often far removed from the headlines is a humanitarian crisis worsening by the day: the situation in Haiti. In recent...

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Policy Brief: Dignity Beyond Borders-...

In the field of migration, there is a tendency to focus on suffering as we bring awareness to the human...

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Policy Brief: Ukrainians Fleeing Russia’s...

Tens of thousands of Ukrainians have arrived in the United States since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022....

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Refugee Program Rebuild Must Continue,...

On September 29, President Biden set the refugee admissions ceiling at 125,000 for the coming fiscal year. Forced displacement from...

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Publications

South Sudan
Policy Reports

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South Sudan
Policy Reports

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South Sudan
Policy Reports

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South Sudan
Policy Reports

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South Sudan
Policy Reports

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South Sudan
Policy Reports

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