The Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS) is a leading voice in the movement to rebuild the U.S. asylum system and expand access to protection for women, children, LGBTQ+ people, and others seeking refuge. Our Policy & Advocacy team serves as a critical resource on asylum to policymakers, journalists, and the public. We provide rapid analysis of policy developments and offer practical recommendations for decision-makers at all levels of government, advising our leaders on how to ensure the United States lives up to its legal and moral commitments to people fleeing persecution.
The Trump administration is undermining the integrity of the Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, injecting incomplete or misleading information into critical legal processes that rely on professional, unbiased research.
This factsheet provides an overview of the Tenth Circuit's published decision in O.C.V. v. Bondi, vacating the Board of Immigration Appeals decision Matter of M-R-M-S-, which had established a heightened nexus standard in asylum cases.
This resource summarizes the new and/or increased asylum fees imposed by the July 2025 “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
This analysis unpacks the Inter-American Court’s Advisory Opinion on the Climate Emergency and Human Rights, highlighting key findings on cross-border displacement and offering recommendations to enhance protection and support advocacy.
Submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food outlining how climate change, land dispossession, and extractive policies in Honduras are driving hunger, displacement, and violence, and undermining the rights of Indigenous and rural communities.
Petición presentada al Relator Especial de las Naciones Unidas sobre el Derecho a la Alimentación, en el que se expone cómo el cambio climático, el despojo de tierras y las políticas extractivas en Honduras están provocando hambre, desplazamiento y violencia, y socavando los derechos de las comun
This factsheet outlines the legal framework, limits, and procedural safeguards for U.S. third country removals. It highlights compliance concerns and distinctions from safe third country agreements.
This submission details the US–El Salvador agreement transferring 288 people to indefinite, incommunicado detention at CECOT, El Salvador’s mega-prison, and urges the UN Special Rapporteur on migrants to demand due process and transparency.
CGRS submitted input to the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants, exemplifying how several U.S. externalization policies and enforcement cooperation undermine refugee protections and violate the rights of those fleeing persecution and harm.
This article looks at the pernicious impacts of opacity in asylum decisionmaking in U.S. immigration courts and CGRS's newly launched Immigration Judge Dashboard available to advocates.