Humanitarian Protection

The United States has long-been a beacon of hope for individuals around the world seeking protection and refuge. Our immigration policies must continue to protect those who need it. Learn more about how America can continue to provide humanitarian protection to those in times of crisis.

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An Overview of U.S. Refugee Law and Policy

Before admission to the United States, each refugee must undergo an extensive interviewing, screening, and security clearance process. They go on to contribute to our communities and our economy.

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All Humanitarian Protection Content

  • Blog

Biden’s Commitment to Refugees in Question After Flip-Flopping on Admissions Cap

April 16, 2021

Throughout his presidential campaign and after the election, Joe Biden repeatedly condemned President Trump’s decision to slash the U.S. refugee admissions level to its lowest in history. He ...

  • Blog

How the Biden Administration Is Responding to Unaccompanied Children, Families, and Adults at the Border

April 8, 2021

Only days after President Biden took office, some people were already declaring that the border was in a state of crisis. But recently released U.S. Customs and Border Protection statistics reveal...

  • Blog

Republicans Introduced 11 New Anti-Immigration Bills. Here’s What’s at Stake If They Pass.

April 1, 2021

A group of Republican lawmakers recently introduced a slew of anti-immigration bills in the House of Representatives and Senate. The bills primarily target people’s rights to seek asylum in the...

  • Blog

Biden Begins to Restore Temporary Protected Status. Which Countries Could Get TPS Next?

March 25, 2021

By the end of the Trump presidency, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) was all but destroyed. The former administration had attempted to end crucial protections for the hundreds of thousands of...

  • Blog

What’s Not Being Said About the Border

March 23, 2021

The current situation at the U.S.-Mexico border—including the rise in immigrant children in U.S. government custody—has captured the nation’s attention in recent weeks. Much of the conversation...

  • Blog

The House Passes Historic Dream and Promise Act and the Farm Workforce Modernization Act

March 18, 2021

The U.S. House of Representatives passed two immigration bills on March 18, signaling that Congress might finally enact major immigration reform for the first time in over three decades. These...

  • Blog

What You Need to Know about Temporary Protected Status for Venezuela

March 9, 2021

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on March 8 that Venezuelan nationals present in the United States would be eligible to apply for Temporary Protected Status (TPS). The TPS...

  • Blog

How the Biden Administration Should Respond to the Arrival of Unaccompanied Children

March 9, 2021

Since 2013, the government has struggled to respond to increasing numbers of unaccompanied children arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border. After disastrous Trump administration policies left...

  • Blog

ICE’s Changes to Family Detention Are an Improvement but Don’t Go Far Enough

March 2, 2021

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced last week that it would make changes to two family detention centers in Texas that would result in families spending less time in detention...

  • Blog

Biden Administration Unveils Plan to Process Asylum Seekers Subject to the Migrant Protection Protocols

February 12, 2021

The Trump administration sent over 70,000 people who came to the U.S border seeking asylum back to Mexico to wait for court hearings. This so-called “Migrant Protection Protocols” (“MPP”) program...

  • Press Release

Complaint Details Coercive Tactics Used by Immigration Officials on Separated Parents

August 23, 2018
The complaint points to numerous examples, including that of Mrs. D.P., who was separated from her 9-year-old daughter for 47 days as a result of Attorney General Jeff Sessions' "zero-tolerance" border policy.
  • Press Release

American Immigration Council's Statement on the Trump Administration's Failure to Reunite Separated Families

July 26, 2018
"The government’s failure to comply with the court order to reunify the thousands of separated children and parents confirms the administration’s utter disregard for the humane and fair treatment of families coming to our country in search of protection."
  • Press Release

DHS Secretary Nielsen Meets with Immigration and Human Rights Groups for First Time, Reiterates Trump Administration’s Misinformation and Sidesteps Family Immigration Crisis

July 9, 2018
Leaders of several immigrant and human rights organizations were invited for the first time under the Trump administration to meet with Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen.
  • Press Release

American Immigration Council's Statement on Attorney General’s Decision Restricting Access to Asylum for Victims of Domestic and Gang Violence

June 11, 2018
Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced today that he is taking away a vital lifeline to victims of severe domestic and gang violence. Sessions issued a decision unilaterally overruling important precedent recognizing that such individuals may qualify for asylum in the United States.
  • Press Release

Lawsuit Seeks To Hold CBP Accountable for Turning Away Asylum Seeker and Falsifying Paper Trail

June 7, 2018
José Crespo Cagnant filed a lawsuit to hold the government accountable for abusive, unlawful conduct and depriving him of an opportunity to apply for asylum.
  • Press Release

Increase in Border Prosecutions Will Separate More Families

May 7, 2018
Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting Director Thomas Homan announced today that the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security will be stepping up prosecutions of individuals along the southern border—likely resulting in the criminalization of asylum seekers and more family separation.
  • Press Release

Advocates File FOIA Request for ICE Documents on Detention of Pregnant Women

May 3, 2018
Through this request, the organizations seek more information regarding the treatment of pregnant individuals held in Immigration and Custom Enforcement custody and any system used to track and monitor pregnant detainees.
  • Press Release

District Court Issues Favorable Nationwide Ruling on Behalf of Thousands of Asylum Seekers

March 29, 2018
A federal district court judge in Washington State ruled today that the federal government’s failure to notify asylum seekers that they must apply for asylum within one year of arriving in the United States violated their right to due process, and ordered the government to provide such notice.
  • Press Release

Class Action Suit Challenges Government’s Denial of TPS Holders’ Green Cards

February 22, 2018
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.
  • Press Release

AG Jeff Sessions is unfit to decide immigration case, say immigration groups

February 21, 2018
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.
  • Blog

Biden’s Reviving Phone-Booth Asylum. Here’s Why It Was a Disaster

April 10, 2023

The Biden administration is yet again turning to the Trump playbook as it tries to slap together a border crackdown to succeed the end of the Title 42 “public health” order next month. The latest...

  • Press Release

Opposition to Proposed Asylum Transit Ban Rule Across U.S.

April 10, 2023
Members of Congress, Faith Leaders, and Pediatricians Join Tens of Thousands of People Demanding Rescission of Biden Asylum Transit Ban.
  • Blog

A Groundswell of Opposition to Biden’s Asylum Transit Ban

April 6, 2023

The public has spoken: an asylum transit ban was bad policy during the Trump era, and it’s bad policy now. On February 21, the Biden administration released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking laying...

  • Blog

Deadly Detention Center Fire Is a Reminder: Both the US and Mexico Are Failing Migrants

March 29, 2023

On Monday night, 39 migrants died, and another 27 were seriously injured, in a fire in a Mexican detention center in Ciudad Juarez. The migrants—most of them from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras...

  • Blog

US and Canada Expand Safe Third Country Agreement in Another Move to Limit Asylum

March 29, 2023

The United States and Canada announced the expansion of their Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) last week during President Biden’s visit to Canada. Under U.S. law, a so-called “Safe Third...

  • Press Release

Advocates Release FOIA Data, Seek Transparency for Thousands of Afghans Seeking Humanitarian Parole and the Extensive Delays They Are Facing

March 16, 2023
The American Immigration Council and International Refugee Assistance Project released government records documenting the extensive delays experienced by thousands of Afghans who filed for humanitarian parole since the United States’ chaotic military withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.
  • FOIA

Agency Failures Make Obtaining Humanitarian Parole Almost Impossible for Afghans

Records show how the USCIS’s response to the high volume of humanitarian parole applications contributed to the massive delays faced by Afghans.
  • Blog

Ukrainians Get a Temporary Reprieve Instead of a Permanent Fix

March 15, 2023

The Biden administration announced on Monday that it would grant another year of temporary legal status for some Ukrainians who fled the Russian invasion for the United States before April 25,...

  • Blog

CBP One Is Riddled With Flaws That Make the App Inaccessible to Many Asylum Seekers  

February 28, 2023

In January and February of this year, the Biden administration announced new policies to process individuals seeking asylum at ports of entry at the U.S.-Mexico border. A key component of these...

  • Blog

Biden Wants to End Exploitation of Migrant Children, But His New Asylum Policy Could Make It Worse

February 27, 2023

The New York Times has published a horrifying investigation into the exploitation of children who migrated to the United States as unaccompanied minors. The investigation by Hannah Dreier finds...

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