This year marks the 75th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention, the legal backbone of refugee protection worldwide.\u00a0 The anniversary comes amid an onslaught of harmful policy changes affecting those who seek refuge.\u00a0 The United States\u00a0helped build this system\u00a0of humanitarian protection.\u00a0But\u00a0the United States is\u00a0now\u00a0leading its\u00a0dilution.<\/p>\n
The U.S. Made the Refugee System Global. Now We Are Testing Its Limits.<\/p>\n
When the United States ratified the 1967 Protocol\u00a0to the convention, we made a deliberate choice\u00a0to universalize\u00a0the international system\u2019s commitments to refugees in the wake of World War II. We\u00a0affirmed\u00a0that protection should not depend on\u00a0one\u2019s\u00a0geographic location\u00a0or the year someone fled\u2014that this system should endure across\u00a0space and time\u00a0and\u00a0across disparate\u00a0displacement contexts and crises.<\/p>\n
Congress\u00a0cemented\u00a0that commitment\u00a0into\u00a0federal law\u00a0with the Refugee Act of 1980, which aligned U.S. law with international standards and created a resettlement program that became the envy of the world.<\/p>\n
That leadership saved lives.\u00a0It saved\u00a0Burmese refugees\u00a0who fled acts of\u00a0genocide. It saved Sudanese\u00a0families\u00a0who escaped Darfur. It saved Syrian\u00a0refugees\u00a0who survived barrel bombs in Aleppo. It saved Congolese\u00a0children\u00a0who spent\u00a0years in camps. It saved people fleeing religious persecution, from Soviet Jews to Yazidi families, who found safety here when their faith made them targets.<\/p>\n
These stories are\u00a0not\u00a0exceptions. They are the American refugee story. They are\u00a0living proof\u00a0that our commitments\u00a0mattered\u00a0and still matter.<\/p>\n
Anniversaries force\u00a0hard questions. The hardest one right now is simple: are we still living up to the commitments we\u00a0made?<\/p>\n
The Global Crisis Is Escalating. The U.S. Is\u00a0Betraying Its Values.<\/p>\n
We are living through the largest displacement crisis ever recorded. Yet the U.S. refugee system is\u00a0operating\u00a0with outdated infrastructure, inconsistent policies, and chronic underinvestment.<\/p>\n
The refugee program is meant to respond to forced displacement worldwide\u2014to\u00a0support\u00a0the\u00a0responsibilities\u00a0and leadership undertaken\u00a0by\u00a0host countries across\u00a0the globe,\u00a0from Colombia to\u00a0Jordan,\u00a0Bangladesh to Uganda.<\/p>\n
Yet\u00a0the current\u00a0U.S.\u00a0refugee program\u00a0has only welcomed\u00a0one nationality\u2014South Africans\u2014this fiscal year.\u00a0Thousands of previously approved refugee\u00a0cases\u00a0remain\u00a0in limbo with no path to the United States\u00a0as\u00a0the indefinite suspension of the\u00a0program\u00a0continues.\u00a0Lawfully arrived refugees have been subject to reinterviews and\u00a0detention. U.S. officials have\u00a0gone to the United Nations to question<\/a> the very tenets of refugee protection.<\/p>\n This Anniversary Demands Action, Not Reflection.<\/p>\n If Americans want to honor the Convention\u2019s legacy\u00a0and our own\u00a0we need to act with urgency, not complacency. We need to demand\u00a0policies\u00a0that\u00a0protect\u00a0those in need, wherever they may be, and\u00a0insist on\u00a0a government that upholds its commitments to its people, its allies, and those it swore to protect.<\/p>\n We are urging U.S. Policymakers to:\u00a0<\/p>\n Recommit to\u00a0the Refugee Act of 1980 as the domestic expression of our international obligations\u00a0and our nation\u2019s values.<\/p>\n Rebuild a\u00a0robust\u00a0and predictable U.S. Refugee Admissions Program that meets today\u2019s global realities\u00a0with ambitious goals\u00a0and the\u00a0resources\u00a0and infrastructure\u00a0to achieve those goals.<\/p>\n Expand and strengthen access to resettlement for populations in danger, including Burmese, Afghans, Sudanese, Congolese, and others whose safety depends on U.S. leadership.<\/p>\n Protect family unity with\u00a0progress\u00a0on\u00a0follow-to-join\u00a0cases for family members reuniting with their loved ones.<\/p>\n Ensure\u00a0geopolitical\u00a0rhetoric\u00a0meets reality\u00a0with resettlement commitments to persecuted groups, such as Uyghurs\u00a0from western China or Christians in Nigeria.<\/p>\n Protect people fleeing religious persecution, consistent with commitments that have defined American identity since our earliest history. You can take action to share a message with your Representatives in Congress below!<\/p>\n
\nEnsure that border and enforcement policies do not\u00a0harm refugee and immigrant children, families, or communities.<\/p>\n