Refugees International Condemns the Racialization of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program

Statement from Refugees International: 

“Refugees International is appalled by the President’s request to Congress to increase refugee resettlement in the United States exclusively for white Afrikaners. This is a gross manipulation of the U.S. refugee program to advance explicitly racialized and exclusionary immigration policies and undermine long-standing protection programs in the United States.

When Congress passed the Refugee Act of 1980, it consciously required the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program to be for populations of “humanitarian concern” so that grave risk to refugees themselves – rather than race or cultural factors – would determine who would be admitted. Congress did not want discrimination against refugees from certain countries or regions – or prejudiced assumptions about who cannot assimilate – to determine access to resettlement. 

Allowing this would let the executive branch circumvent Congress’s abolishment of the national origins system in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. The Trump administration’s request is part of its effort to revert to a racist immigration policy—one that abandons refugees to whom the U.S. promised refuge, undermines global refugee protection, and promotes dangerous and racist “remigration” policies that target immigrants and refugees who have long been valued community members across the country.

A bipartisan majority of more than two-thirds of Americans believe the United States should have a refugee resettlement program to bring people here seeking safety. 

Refugees International will continue to defend the principle that refugee protection must be grounded in humanitarian need – not race – and that the United States must remain a nation of refuge for those fleeing danger and persecution.”

Take Action: Join thousands who are calling on the White House to end targeted attacks on refugees and keep America’s promise by signing our petition. 

For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact Madison Cullinan mcullinan@refugeesinternational.org.