United States
Americas
Advocacy for United States
What’s Happening?
The second Trump administration is undermining the refugee resettlement and asylum systems codified in U.S. law in 1980 and has eliminated U.S.humanitarian assistance for refugees abroad that has existed since the 1960s. The Trump administration has not only stranded refugees abroad, it has also stripped access to protection and protected statuses from millions of people in the United States, and massively increased detention and deportation regardless of the risk of harm. Through international pressure and transactional diplomacy, it is also trying to cripple refugee protection globally and the human rights of migrants in other countries.
What Must Be Done?
The U.S. Congress and the federal courts must ensure that the United States abides by its own legal obligations as well as its international legal obligations with respect to refugees and asylum seekers. Both the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program and U.S. aid must be restored because they are lifesaving and crucial to global stability and U.S. interests.
Latest Reports and Briefs
“This is an Order from Trump:” Abuse, Expulsions, and Refoulement of People Seeking Asylum
May 8, 2025
The Impacts of USAID Cuts: Less Climate Resilience, More Forced Displacement
April 29, 2025
“Don’t Tell Me About Your Fear”: Elimination of Longstanding Safeguard Leads to Systematic Violations of Refugee Law
August 12, 2024
Latest Statements and News
Latest Opinions, Q&As, and Explainers
Latest Advocacy Letters
Urging the Governments of Costa Rica and Panama to Address Injustices Relating to U.S. Return Scheme
March 27, 2025
75+ Organizations and Congregations Urge the Biden Administration to Take Action Following Changes to CBP One Appointments
September 17, 2024
80+ Organizations Express Objection to Border Act of 2024
September 5, 2024
Latest Events and Testimonies
Launch Event: Banished by Bargain—Third Country Deportation Watch
November 21, 2025
AHA Briefing on Historical Perspectives on Deportation Policies and Practices
March 13, 2025
Refugees International President Jeremy Konyndyk Speaks at a Senate Roundtable on the Implications of Halting U.S. Foreign Assistance
February 12, 2025
Latest Perspectives and Commentaries
Featured Image: A Guatemalan father and daughter who are seeking asylum rest in a shelter on May 15, 2019 in El Paso, Texas. © Mario Tama/Getty Images
Take Action
Let Them Stay
Write to your Members of Congress today and urge them to protect people who have found safety in the United States through humanitarian parole and #LetThemStay.