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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.
Asylum Claims for Individuals Fleeing Climate Change or Environmental Disasters: Making the Best Use of Existing Legal Frameworks
This document summarizes CGRS's practice advisories, "Analyzing Asylum Claims for Individuals Fleeing Climate Change or Environmental Disasters" and "Investigating Climate-Related Aspects of Fear-of-Return Claims." The first advisory explains how displaced individuals can seek protection under U.
Explainer: Cruz Galicia v. Garland on climate-related asylum
This explainer analyzes the First Circuit decision in Cruz Galicia v. Garland, denying a climate-related asylum claim.
Recommendations to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for the Cartagena +40 Process: The Need to Address Climate-Related Displacement
CGRS and our partners provided policy recommendations to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights as part of the Cartagena +40 process, focusing on the response to displacement caused or exacerbated by climate change and disasters.
CGRS Comment in Response to DHS and DOJ Request for Comments: Securing the Border, 89 FR 48710 and Presidential Proclamation, 89 FR 48487
We submitted our analysis of the government's interim final rule that essentially closes off asylum during "emergency border circumstances." Our comment urges the government to withdraw the rule in its entirety.
CGRS Comment in Response to DHS Request for Comments: Application of Certain Mandatory Bars in Fear Screenings, 89 Fed. Reg. 41347
We submitted our analysis of the government's proposed rule permitting asylum officers to consider the applicability of statutory bars during initial fear screenings. Our comment urges the government to withdraw the rule in its entirety.
Recommendations on the Inclusion of Civil Society in the Implementation of the LA Declaration
We joined 158 other civil society organizations from across the Americas to endorse a comprehensive set of recommendations for the signatories of the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection, urging them to include civil society in its implementation.
Submission to the Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in the Context of Climate Change: Access to Information on Climate Change and Human Rights
CGRS made a submission to the Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in the Context of Climate Change focused on the right to access information and human rights implications for people displaced across borders by the effects of climate change.
Request to Provide a Minimum of 60 days for Public Comment in Response to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM): Application of Certain Mandatory Bars in Fear Screenings
CGRS and 77 other organizations called on DHS to extend the comment period to a minimum of at least 60 days after DHS proposed a new rule governing fear screenings by asylum officers with an atypical, abbreviated 30-day comment period.
Submission to the Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism: Visit of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance to Brazil
CGRS made a submission to the Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism in response to the United Nations Special Rapporteur's call for input: Visit of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance to Brazil.
Immigration Advocacy and National Faith, Progressive, Human and Civil Rights Organizations Oppose Further Senate Movement on Anti-Immigrant Legislation
This joint statement expresses opposition to reported plans by Leader Schumer and Senate leadership to bring the failed Lankford-Murphy immigration bill, any of its components or paired with other bills, to the floor for a vote.
