PSYC 356: Aslyum: Psychological Effects: Asylum and asylum law

The nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute seeks to improve immigration and integration policies through authoritative research and analysis, opportunities for learning and dialogue, and the development of new ideas to address complex policy questions. The research offered here relates to the law and practice of protecting refugees and IDPs in areas of conflict as well as in industrialized nations, with a focus on secure solutions and effective institutional arrangements for comprehensive protection.

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. They provide rapid analysis of policy developments and offer practical recommendations for decision-makers at all levels of government, advising leaders on how to ensure the United States lives up to its legal and moral commitments to people fleeing persecution.

Asylos is a network of researchers providing on demand background research to support asylum claims. Asylos volunteers look for information that can help to establish whether forcing a refugee to return to his/her country of origin or transit would threaten his/her life or deny fundamental human and civil rights. The research concerns the situation in the country of origin of the asylum seeker or other facts relating to an individual asylum claim.

Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) is the preeminent U.S.-based nongovernmental organization devoted to the protection of unaccompanied and separated children. In 2008, KIND was founded by the Microsoft Corporation and UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie to address the gap in legal services for unaccompanied minors. KIND now has offices across the United States and in Mexico that provide unaccompanied children with holistic care that includes legal assistance and social services.

Heartland Alliance's National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) is dedicated to ensuring human rights protections and access to justice for all immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers. NIJC provides direct legal services to and advocates for these populations through policy reform, impact litigation, and public education. Since its founding three decades ago, NIJC has been unique in blending individual client advocacy with broad-based systemic change.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is a global organization dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights and building a better future for refugees, forcibly displaced communities and stateless people. Their Refugee Data Finder collates population data relating to persons who are forcibly displaced or stateless, and provides analyses. The data is sourced primarily from governments and also from UNHCR operations.

WRC’s mission is to improve the lives and protect the rights of women, children, and youth displaced by conflict and crisis. They research their needs, identify solutions, and advocate for programs and policies to strengthen their resilience and drive change in humanitarian practice. The Women’s Refugee Commission’s Research and Resource Library is a collection of groundbreaking reports, field manuals, and other tools to help the humanitarian community improve programs that affect the lives of internally displaced and refugee women, children, and youth. Their materials are informed by recommendations from visits to refugee settings, often conducted with partner local organizations.

The Tahirih Justice Center is a national, nonprofit that has served over 30,000 immigrant survivors fleeing gender-based violence since 1997. By combining free legal services and social services case management with bridge-building policy advocacy and research-based training and education, Tahirih advocates both for individual immigrant survivors and to change the systems that are complicit in the conditions of their oppression. Their website includes overviews of the policy issues they seek to influence and rectify, and links to their services.