The IRC provides critical support to asylum seekers on both sides of the U.S. southern border. This includes providing temporary shelter, humanitarian assistance, medical care, legal advice, and travel coordination for more than 50,000 asylum seekers released from U.S. government custody since June 2018. Refugees and asylum seekers. People can be granted refugee status or asylum and the right to live permanently in the United States if they can prove that they have been persecuted or have a well-founded fear of persecution “because of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.” Asylum is granted to people who are already in the United States, while refugee status is granted to people who have been screened abroad and approved for resettlement. Resettled refugees and persons entitled to asylum can apply for a green card after one year. In the second quarter of 2022, 75% of refugees came from the five countries with the highest citizenship: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Syria, Burma, Ukraine and Sudan (see Table 2). In the second quarter of 2021, the five countries with the highest nationality (the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Iraq and Burma) accounted for 72% of incoming refugees. Donate to help the IRC provide life-saving assistance to refugees and asylum seekers around the world. Immigration has become the centre of political and public debate on both sides of the Atlantic and around the world. Yet basic facts about immigration and immigrants that are accurate and come from credible sources can be hard to come by. In this section, we provide explanations, fact sheets and data-rich articles, as well as data tools that can help non-specialists learn more about this phenomenon of international migration.
Your case may involve your spouse, your child (single and under 21 years of age) and, in certain circumstances, other family members. You can include a same-sex spouse in your application as long as you and your spouse are legally married. Generally, USCIS reviews the law of the place where the marriage was contracted to determine whether it is valid for immigration law purposes. Same-sex partners who are not married but qualified to access U.S. refugee admissions under one of three designated global processing priorities may refer to their cases so that they can be interviewed simultaneously and, if authorized by USCIS, relocated to the same geographic area in the United States. While about 80 percent of green cards are issued each year through family and professional pathways, the U.S. immigration system has other channels for entry into permanent residence. Approximately 5,500 refugees were admitted to the United States in the second quarter of 2022 (see table 2), an increase of 408 per cent over the second quarter of 2021, when only about 1,100 refugees were admitted. These significant increases show a slight recovery in COVID-19-related public health challenges, although refugee ceiling figures have not yet returned to pre-COVID-19 levels. We are committed to ensuring that governments live up to their shared responsibility to protect the rights of refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants. We condemn all policies and practices that undermine the rights of refugees on the move.
In the second quarter of 2022, DHS recorded a total of 20.2 million nonimmigrants to the United States (i.e., including I-94 and estimated non-I-94 admissions). Specifically, this included nearly 8.8 million I-94 non-immigrants (see Table 4B), a 274% increase over the second quarter of fiscal 2021. These significant increases coincided with the continued recovery of the immigration system from public health challenges related to COVID-19. Consultations are only possible by appointment. Please contact your local office to check the legal services offered by the office and to make an appointment. Across the United States, IRC provides legal, case management, medical, mental health and other services to refugee claimants in 25 offices. We are also pushing for other safe ways for refugees to start a new life, such as reuniting families who have been separated, community groups helping refugee families move to their countries, and universities and companies offering people study or work visas to start a new life. Another policy, called the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) or “Stay in Mexico,” required some asylum seekers to await their U.S. immigration court proceedings in Mexico with little or no access to a lawyer. Although a federal court also blocked the Biden administration`s attempts to end the program, the Supreme Court later ruled in favor of the government. Governments should never force anyone to return to a country where they are threatened with human rights violations.
Instead, refugees should be offered a safe place to live and opportunities for work, education and health care. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) releases this quarterly report, which describes legal immigration and details the number of adjustments to immigration status. The Bureau of Immigration Statistics (OIS) developed this report by disaggregating data for the reporting period by type of adjustment, type and category of detailed admission, and country of citizenship. Legal immigration to the United States occurs through an alphabetical soup of visa categories, but a small number of pathways. Family relationships, ties to employers, or the need for humanitarian protections are the primary channels for immigrants seeking temporary or permanent residency in the United States. And to a lesser extent, people can come if they have in-demand skills or are selected in the green card lottery. Visa categories have different requirements, are subject to different numerical limits, and offer different rights and obligations. The information on legal migration flows and status adjustments included in this quarterly report is preliminary and based on data available 1 month after the reference period. SIB updates data from previous quarters in subsequent reports as additional data become available and publishes final annual data in the Yearbook of Immigration Statistics. The figures presented in this report reflect revisions made to previous editions of this report. An asylum seeker is a person who has left his or her country and seeks protection from persecution and serious human rights violations in another country, but who has not yet been recognised as a refugee and is awaiting a decision on his or her asylum application.
Seeking asylum is a human right. This means that everyone should be allowed to enter another country to apply for asylum. Today`s legal immigration system, based on laws passed in 1965 and 1990, has two main categories of visas: permanent visas (officially known as immigrant visas) and temporary visas (non-immigrant visas). The largest LPR approval class (51%) in the second quarter of fiscal 2022 was comprised of immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, followed by 21% of LPRs who received employment-based preference status and 17% who received family-based preference status. Refugee permits, the second largest admission category, accounted for 4% of LPRs (see Table 1B). In the second quarter of 2021, most new LPRs were immediate relatives of U.S. citizens (61%), followed by employment-based preferences (16%), refugees (6%) and family preferences (5%). If you are recognized as a refugee, you will receive a medical examination, cultural orientation, assistance with your travel plans, and credit for your trip to the United States.
Upon arrival, you will be entitled to medical assistance and cash. For more information on refugee benefits, visit the Health and Social Services, Office of Refugee Resettlement page. There are about 26 million refugees in the world. Many people feel overwhelmed by the numbers and see people crossing borders as a global crisis. We at Amnesty International do not agree that this is a crisis of numbers. People are not the problem. Rather, it is the causes that drive families and individuals across borders, and the short-sighted and unrealistic way in which politicians respond to them, are the problem. To learn more about the U.S.
immigration system, here are some helpful resources: We advocate for a world where human rights can be exercised by all, regardless of their circumstances. Amnesty International has campaigned for the human rights of refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants for decades. The terms “migrant” and “refugee” are often used interchangeably, but it is important to distinguish between them because there is a legal difference. You can join our movement of people welcoming refugees. Amnesty International`s I Welcome campaign calls on governments around the world to welcome their fair share of the world`s people seeking safety. With sufficient political will, our leaders can protect people fleeing conflict and persecution, including through a solution called resettlement.