URGENT: Refugees need your support.

Show our neighbors that they are (still) welcome by supporting food assistance, healthcare, and other critical needs.

Please give today.

SUPPORT REFUGEES

The browser you are using is not supported. Please consider using a modern browser.

Skip Navigation
Act Now Donate
Start of main content.

News // Family Reunification

Global Refuge Testifies at Senate Hearing on Safety of Unaccompanied Migrant Children

Global Refuge logo

Global Refuge Staff

June 14, 2023

Thumbnail for a video entitled 'LIRS Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing: Ensuring the Safety & Well-Being of Unaccompanied Children'

At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing titled “Ensuring the Safety and Well-being of Unaccompanied Children,” Lorie Davidson, Vice President of Children and Family Services at Global Refuge, delivered expert testimony emphasizing the need for improved protections, additional resources, and legal representation to ensure the best interests of this particularly vulnerable population.

For 40 years, Global Refuge has worked alongside the government and with a national network of community-based partners to provide appropriate services for unaccompanied children, identify unique vulnerabilities to exploitation, and to protect their best interests.

Unaccompanied children are among the most vulnerable populations, and when they arrive in the U.S, they frequently have limited support and significant difficulty accessing services in their communities as a result of language and cultural barriers, and unfamiliarity with U.S laws designed to protect children.

Lorie Davidson, Vice President of Children and Family Services at Global Refuge

In her opening statement, Davidson also highlighted the U.S. government’s history of easing sponsor vetting requirements during periods of influx, notably in 2014, 2018 and 2021, leading to cases of exploitation.

“Rolling back background checks in times of influx cannot continue to be used as the solution to move children out of influx care facilities quickly,” said Davidson. “ORR must consistently and appropriately vet sponsors based on their relationship to the child 100% of the time.”

Finally, Davidson stressed the need for policy solutions to safeguard the best interests of children, including more robust protections, additional resources for post-release services, and access to legal representation.

“To ensure the safety and well-being of unaccompanied children in our community, Congress must focus on improving protections and ensuring adequate resources to provide all in-person post-release services immediately following release, and access to ongoing legal representation to safeguard against labor and other types of exploitation,” Davidson concluded.

Today's hearing comes in the wake of the end of Title 42's specious use for immigration enforcement, which Global Refuge has previously highlighted to Congress as greatly increasing family separation and historic numbers of unaccompanied children's arrival at the U.S. southern border.

Read Davidson’s full written testimony here.

The Latest

  • News

    December 10, 2025

    Global Refuge Reaffirms Commitment to Human Dignity

    At Global Refuge, we honor and recognize the inherent dignity of all people. For 86 years, we have walked alongside refugees and other immigrants as they build their new lives in the United States—often fleeing war, persecution, and humanitarian disaster in pursuit of a better life. We welcome newcomers not simply because it is the right thing to do, but because it is central to our mission and identity: As a witness to God's love for all people, we stand with and advocate for children, refugees, and other immigrants , transforming communities through ministries of service and justice.    

    Read More
  • News · Community Engagement

    December 4, 2025

    7 Ways to Make a Difference for Immigrants and Refugees This Season

    See seven ways to help refugees and immigrants this holiday season.

    Read More
  • Press Release

    November 25, 2025

    Global Refuge Responds to Administration’s Plan to Re-Vet Lawfully Admitted Refugees

    Global Refuge is deeply concerned by reports that the Trump administration's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will review and potentially re-interview the cases of more than 200,000 refugees who were lawfully admitted to the United States between 2021 and early 2025, while also halting the processing of their applications for lawful permanent residency.

    Read More
  • News

    November 19, 2025

    5 Tips for Having Difficult Conversations about Immigration this Holiday Season 

    The holidays are upon us, bringing good food, great cheer...and the occasional awkward conversation around the family dinner table. Gathering with family and friends we haven’t seen for a while is one of the season’s blessings, but it can also surface difficult conversations and differences of opinion—particularly as the United States finds itself growing ever more ideologically divided.

    Read More
  • News

    November 18, 2025

    Faith in Action: Delivering Immigration Legal Services in Fargo

    Members of the Global Refuge Immigration Legal Services team traveled to Fargo, North Dakota to provide services to a community facing complex and rapidly growing immigration needs.

    Read More

Share