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.
Reforms Needed to Bring the United States into Compliance with the Refugee Convention & Protocol
This factsheet explains that the treaty obligations underpinning U.S. asylum law should be used in all contexts from individual representation to administrative rulemaking and statutory reform.
Posicionamiento de organizaciones de la sociedad civil de las Américas por acciones continentales para una migración con derechos y dignidad
Debido a los cambios en las tendencias migratorias, CGRS y 25 organizaciones firmamos una carta reconociendo la importancia de que los paises de las Américas se unan desde un enfoque coordinado sobre la inmigración y la protección de los derechos humanos.
Applying the refugee definition to child-specific forms of persecution
This chapter in the "Research Handbook on Child Migration" analyzes how the refugee definition properly applies in children’s asylum cases and how governments can better protect children from harm.
CGRS Comment in Response to DHS and DOJ Request for Comments: Circumvention of Lawful Pathways, 88 Fed. Reg. 31314
We submitted our analysis of the government's final "asylum ban" rule, which bars from asylum most people seeking protection at the U.S. southern border. Our comment urges the agencies to withdraw the rule in its entirety.
Deteriorating Conditions in the Jérémie, Haiti Prison: A Call to Action to Preserve Due Process and Human Life
CGRS, UC Law SF students, and partners at the Catholic Law School of Jeremie investigate conditions in the prison in Jeremie, Haiti finding grave violations of human rights and offering recommendations for restoring them. French and Kreyol versions forthcoming.
Deteriorating Conditions in the Jérémie, Haiti Prison: A Call to Action to Preserve Due Process and Human Life
CGRS, UC Law SF students, and partners at the Catholic Law School of Jeremie investigate conditions in the prison in Jeremie, Haiti finding grave violations of human rights and offering recommendations for restoring them. French and Kreyol versions forthcoming.
Deteriorating Conditions in the Jérémie, Haiti Prison: A Call to Action to Preserve Due Process and Human Life
CGRS, UC Law SF students, and partners at the Catholic Law School of Jeremie investigate conditions in the prison in Jeremie, Haiti finding grave violations of human rights and offering recommendations for restoring them. French and Kreyol versions forthcoming.
Credibility Issues in Children’s Asylum Claims: Findings and Recommendations
This factsheet provides an overview of CGRS's new practice advisory on establishing credibility in children's asylum claims, including strategies for advocates and recommendations for making the asylum system more fair and efficient in assessing children's claims.
Far from Safety: Dangers and Limits to Protection for Asylum Seekers Transiting through Latin America
This report covers the legal and policy context of the Biden administration’s proposed "asylum ban" and highlights nine transit countries' inability to protect asylum seekers. It also provides recommendations to the U.S. government based on its legal and moral obligations to refugees.
Making a Mockery of Asylum: The Proposed Asylum Ban, Relying on the CBP One App for Access to Ports of Entry, Will Separate Families and Deny Protection
This factsheet presents findings from a series of interviews with individuals and families in Tijuana, focused on their experiences using the U.S. government's CBP One app and awaiting an opportunity to exercise their legal right to seek asylum at the U.S. border, which the Biden administration's proposed asylum ban will greatly undermine.