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Human Rights First builds respect for human rights and the rule of law to help ensure the dignity to which everyone is entitled and to stem intolerance, tyranny, and violence. More » |
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Few Tangible Changes for Detainees as ICE Detention Reforms Anniversary Approaches
One year after U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced its intention to reform the immigration detention system, Human Rights First is urging the agency to fulfill that promise. We commend ICE for the steps it has taken to develop its overhaul strategy, but note that more must be done to revamp the nation's sprawling detention system, which holds up to 400,000 immigrants – including many asylum seekers – annually in more than 200 jails and jail-like facilities.
(08/09/10)
HRF report cited in NY Review of Books
Human Rights First's report "Denial and Delay: The Impact of the Immigration Law's 'Terrorism Bars' on Asylum Seekers and Refugees in the United States" is cited in the NY Review of Books to explain that current law and legal interpretation regarding "material support" to "terrorism" mean that many innocent refugees and asylum seekers, who are themselves victims of violence or repression in foreign countries, have been stuck in limbo or denied entry to the United States.
The Refugee Protection Act of 2010 would address many of the problems with current practice.
(06/28/10)
Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Refugee Protection Act
Human Rights First commends the Senate Judiciary Committee for holding a hearing on May 19 to shine a light on the need to improve the U.S. asylum and refugee resettlement systems. Human Rights First is joined by 88 faith-based, human rights and other groups, as well as 99 experts and others, in supporting the Refugee Protection Act of 2010 (S. 3113). The bill would repair many of the most severe problems in the U.S. asylum and refugee systems and strengthen the U.S. commitment to providing refuge to victims of religious, political, ethnic and other forms of persecution.
Read our press release on the May 19 hearing.
Read Human Rights First's written testimony submitted for the record
Read the letter submitted by Human Rights First and 88 other groups for the hearing.
Read our two-pager on the Refugee Protection Act, and the bill itself.
Urge your Senators to co-sponsor the Refugee Protection Act
(05/19/10)
Eliminate the Arbitrary One-Year Bar to Asylum
Human Rights First, along with 86 other faith-based, human rights, legal services and refugee assistance organizations and 81 individual asylum law practitioners, pro bono attorneys, law professors and other experts, sent a letter to members of the U.S. House of Representatives urging them to support H.R. 4800, the Restoring Protection to Victims of Persecution Act, eliminating the one-year deadline for filing asylum applications. The one year deadline is a technical requirement that has led to the denial, rejection, or delay of thousands of requests for asylum protection in the United States and created unnecessary inefficiencies in the asylum adjudication process.
Read the letter (PDF)
Read HRF's press release and our recommendations (PDF).
Read the Restoring Protection to Victims of Persecution Act (PDF).
(04/22/10)
Human Rights First Urges DHS and Congress to Help Haitians Stranded by Quake
Human Rights First joined with dozens of other NGOs to urge DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano to take crucial steps including rescinding the so-called "shout test"–a discriminatory non-process by which Haitians picked up at sea will be returned to Haiti unless they express fear through physical resistance or shouting. Read March 12, 2010, letter to Secretary Napolitano.
Human Rights First also joined dozens of other NGOs to urge Congress to support the Haitian Emergency Protection Act of 2010 (S. 2998 and H. 4616), which would allow 55,000 Haitians with approved family visa applications to enter the United States to join their families while waiting for their green cards. Read April 12, 2010, letter to Congress.
(04/20/10)
Spotlight U.S. Rights Violations in Report to Human Rights Council
In a recent report to the Human Rights Council, Human Rights First highlights ongoing concerns about U.S. refugee protection and immigration detention; counterterrorism policies; and hate crimes and discrimination. The report targets the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), which will look at the human rights record of the United States for the first time in November 2010.
Read HRF Report to Human Rights Council.
(03/31/10)
Better Protection for LGBT Refugees
Human Rights First joined 17 different NGOs in a letter to Secretary of State Clinton to urge better protection for refugees fleeing persecution due to their sexual orientation or gender identity.
(03/31/10)
Human Rights First Praises Senators for Introducing Bill Strengthening U.S. Commitment to Refugees
Thirty years after the signing of the landmark Refugee Act of 1980, Senators introduced the Refugee Protection Act of 2010 (S. 3113), legislation repairing many of the most severe problems in the U.S. refugee and asylum systems. The introduction of the Refugee Protection Act of 2010 coincides with the commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of the Refugee Act of 1980, the bipartisan bill that affirmed the U.S. commitment to providing refuge to victims of religious, political, ethnic and other forms of persecution.
Read Human Rights First's press release.
Take action.
Watch our 30th Anniversary video.
View a flow chart of How Refugees Get to the U.S.
Read Senator Leahy's Statement
Read the Refugee Protection Act of 2010.
Read HRF's two-pager on the bill.
(03/17/10)
Renewing U.S. Commitment to Refugee Protection: The 30th Anniversary of the Refugee Act
Human Rights First gathered policymakers and experts in refugee and asylum law on March 16, 2010 for a full-day symposium at Georgetown University Law School in Washington, D.C.
The symposium highlighted the United States' achievements since the passage of the Refugee Act of 1980, honored the contributions refugees and their children have made to the diverse fabric of American society, and evaluated the ways in which policymakers can work together to overcome current challenges in the U.S. refugee resettlement and asylum systems.
Read a summary about the symposium.
See the speakers and program (PDF).
Read the press release and recommendations (PDF).
Watch our video.
27 refugees sworn in as US citizens on the 30th Anniversary of the Refugee Act
Take action.
(03/16/10)
Following Iraqi Elections, U.S. Should Push Support for Displaced
Sunday's parliamentary election in Iraq offers the opportunity to reengage Iraqi leadership on key issues affecting Iraq's stability.
Read Human Rights First's press release.
03/05/10
U.S. Must Focus on Safety of Iraqi Refugees
Today, two years after the bipartisan Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act became law, Human Rights First is calling for a renewed focus on the safety and security of Iraq's refugees, including those who have been targeted because of their work with the U.S. government, military, non-governmental organizations and journalists.
Read press statement (1/28/10)
Read HRF's 2009 report Promises to the Persecuted: The Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act of 2008
(01/28/10)
For the Victims of the Earthquake in Haiti
Human Rights First extends its deepest sympathies to those affected by the earthquake, and their loved ones. We welcome Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano's announcement that the United States will extend Temporary Protected Status to Haitians living in the United States, and urge the Obama administration to revisit the United States' flawed and discriminatory policies on interdiction at sea and develop standards that comport with this country's human rights commitments and its values.
Read the press release (01/15/10).
Read Huffington Post article by HRF's Eleanor Acer (2/10/10).
(01/15/10)
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