UNHCR | Washington Regional Office
U.S. Protection Unit
The protection and advocacy work of the legal unit UNHCR Washington is supported the through the following activities.
- Commenting on US legislation and policies on refugee protection through formal written comments on draft legislation before Congress and proposed regulations issued by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of State (DOS) and other relevant agencies, proposing draft language, and discussions with government and civil stakeholders.
- Advising government interlocutors, including the DHS, DOJ, DOS and the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), on issues affecting asylum-seekers in the US from the international refugee law perspective; provide information on country assessments and briefings on asylum and refugee law and policy to the DHS, DOJ, DOS, National Security Council, and others. Issues include detention and release policies and practices including alternatives to detention; asylum adjudications; access to legal counsel for asylum-seekers; and the treatment of unaccompanied children and other particularly vulnerable asylum-seekers.
- Researching and drafting analytical advisory opinions and amicus briefs on issues of international refugee law for use in asylum adjudications. These briefs and other UNHCR position papers on specific countries and asylum-related issues can be found at www.refworld.org.
- Monitoring the asylum adjudication process, through activities such as site visits to ports of entry to observe expedited procedures and border processing, to asylum offices to observe asylum interviews, and to immigration courts to observe asylum hearings; assess compliance of these processes with international standards and report findings and recommendations to the relevant agencies.
- Monitoring the US’s policies and practices governing the detention of refugees, asylum seekers and other persons of concern, in order to minimize the arbitrary detention of asylum seekers, refugees and stateless persons, and to promote meaningful access to protection. The U.S. Protection Unit does this through activities such as advising government interlocutors on the relevant international refugee and human rights law, standards and practices; promoting the use of appropriate alternatives to detention, with a particular focus on community support programs; and conducting site visits to detention facilities to assess the compliance with relevant standards, and reporting findings and recommendations to the relevant agencies.
- Training legal service providers and government officials through participation in and provision of trainings for government officials such as the DHS Asylum and Refugee Corps, DOJ Executive Office for Immigration Review, DOS Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, at schools and law school clinics, for NGOs, pro bono and private practitioners and community activists.
- Liaising and exchanging information with UNHCR Headquarters (HQs) and offices in other countries by providing comments on proposed UNHCR policy positions; providing information on developments in US law, policy and practice; working with other offices in response to refugee-related inquiries from Congressional members, government officials, attorneys, NGOs, refugees and asylum seekers.
- Advocating for stateless persons in the United States by working with Congress and the Administration to provide a pathway to legal status for stateless person in the United States and to seek short-term alternatives for certain issues until a permanent legal solution becomes available and providing information to and consultations with stateless persons. More information about UNHCR’s work with stateless persons can be found at http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49c3646c155.html.
- Assisting asylum-seekers and their representatives by responding to inquiries on international and United States refugee and asylum law, policies, procedures and practices; providing basic information about the U.S. asylum system and process; providing information about any available low-cost or free legal services providers for asylum-seekers. If someone you know is detained, click here to find out if a Legal Orientation Program provider services the facility: http://www.vera.org/project/legal-orientation-program/facilities.
Resources
- UNHCR briefs, position papers and other documents on asylum-related issues and on specific countries, as well as documents on these topics from other reliable sources, can be found at www.refworld.org.
- For information on locating legal services providers, including free and low-cost legal providers, in your area, please visit:
http://www.justice.gov/eoir/legalrepresentation.htm
http://www.aila.org/content/default.aspx?docid=10180
- The Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project has produced a wide range of self-help materials, which can be found at: http://www.firrp.org/publications.html.
- If you have concerns regarding the conditions of your detention, the American Bar Association (ABA) provides information on the formal complaint processes for immigration detainees.
American Bar Association
Commission on Immigration
740 Fifteenth Street, NW, 9th Floor
Washington, D.C. 20005-1022
F 202.442.3363
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