Refugees and Asylum Seekers
The United States has a longstanding tradition of welcoming individuals from around the world who are seeking protection and refuge. But recent U.S. policy has grown increasingly hostile toward asylum seekers and refugees. Instead of turning vulnerable individuals away, the United States should maintain its global reputation as a leader in refugee resettlement and humanitarian protection. Doing so not only upholds American values but sustains and strengthens our communities. Data from the Council shows that refugees and asylees make tremendous contributions to our economy as earners, taxpayers, and consumers. Learn more about the contributions and challenges of asylum seekers and refugees below.
Immigrants Rights Group Sues U.S. Government Over Family Separation at the Border
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit this week to demand the immediate release and reunification of an asylum-seeking Congolese mother and her 7 year-old daughter, who had been forcibly separated by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officers at the U.S.-Mexico border last November. Read More
After Finally Escaping Vietnam, Refugee Works to Help Those Who Come After Him
In 1982, at age 31, Walter Nguyen made his fifth and final attempt to escape Vietnam. Prior attempts had landed him in jail, but he did not have a choice. Food was scarce, and, because he had worked as a press officer for U.S.-backed South Vietnamese forces, the communist government… Read More
USCIS Changes to Asylum Interview Scheduling Allows Long-Pending Cases to Languish
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) made abrupt and sweeping changes to how the agency will schedule interviews for affirmative asylum applications. Rather than interviewing those who have been waiting months or years for their interview, asylum offices will now prioritize brand new filings ahead of all others waiting in… Read More
Class Action Suit Challenges Government’s Denial of TPS Holders’ Green Cards
In violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act, USCIS denies the green card applications of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders who first entered the United States without going through an inspection process at a port of entry, ignoring the fact that they subsequently were inspected and admitted when they were granted TPS. Read More
AG Jeff Sessions is unfit to decide immigration case, say immigration groups
The American Immigration Council, joined by several other immigration groups, submitted an amicus brief that argues that due process requires an impartial adjudicator and that Sessions’ anti-immigrant statements and actions prevent him from acting as one. The brief lays out Sessions’ decades-long public record of anti-immigrant statements, including specific statements evidencing prejudgment of issues in the case, and urges Sessions to either vacate the referral order or recuse himself from the case. Read More
Immigrant Women and Girls Often Face Abuse, Homelessness After Arriving to the United States
Immigrant women and girls face unique challenges in navigating the U.S. immigration system, their dire circumstances often exacerbated by the gender-based violence they encounter on the journey and upon their arrival to the United States. These struggles were captured in a new report from the Tahirih Justice Center, which surveyed… Read More
The Daily Orange: Drop in refugee resettlement could affect Syracuse economy
The number of new refugees resettling in Syracuse dropped 72 percent between 2016 to 2017, according to recently published data from New York state. This large drop could have wide-ranging economic effects on the area, experts say. Onondaga County has become home to 9,954 refugees in the last 11 years,… Read More
Decoding the White House Immigration Framework
After President Trump ended the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative, he instructed Congress to pass legislation to protect Dreamers. However, Congress had to wait for direction from the White House on what type of legislation the president would sign into law. Finally, on Thursday, his administration released their… Read More
Three Year Anniversary of Family Detention Center Is Sad Reminder of America’s Cruelest Immigration Policy Practice
December marks the three-year anniversary of the opening of the country’s largest family detention center for non-citizen mothers and their minor children located in Dilley, Texas. Referred to as a “baby jail” since it holds children under one year of age there, the opening of the Dilley family detention center… Read More
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