Advocacy

Global Refuge’s Policy and Advocacy Team advances just, humane, and dignified refugee and immigration policy at the federal, state, and local levels.

Since its inception, Global Refuge has served and assisted more than 800,000 individuals as they rebuild their lives in the United States. Our mission is rooted in the Lutheran tradition of welcome and long held American values—fairness, freedom, opportunity, and the belief that every person deserves dignity and the chance to thrive.

Our advocacy is grounded in our humanitarian principles and experience, inspired by the children and families we serve, informed by our team of experts, and guided by our vision of a world of just and welcoming communities where immigrants and refugees are protected, embraced, and empowered.

Drawing on our significant history of service and advocacy, we bring the lived experiences of newcomers and evidence from our operations directly into policy conversations. We work to strengthen protections, expand opportunities, and ensure dignity for people seeking safety—not only in Washington, D.C., but also in statehouses, city halls, and communities across the country.

Current Policy and Advocacy Priorities

U.S. Refugee Admissions Program

Global Refuge is advocating for a fully functioning U.S. Refugee Admissions Program and a fair, inclusive, and needs-based Presidential Determination that ensures America’s refugee program reflects humanitarian needs and foundational American values, not politics. 

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Other Humanitarian Protections and Pathways

Global Refuge is advocating to preserve lawful status, protections, and access to work authorization for Afghans, Ukrainians, Haitians, and other immigrants in the United States under temporary humanitarian grounds like TPS and humanitarian parole.   

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Immigration Enforcement and Detention

Global Refuge is calling for critical reforms to current immigration enforcement policies, including an end to child and family detention by DHS, and rescission of the USCIS Refugee Detention Policy—which calls for lawfully admitted refugees who have not yet obtained their green cards to be detained.

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Federal Budget

Global Refuge is advocating to ensure a federal budget that reflects compassion, justice, and shared responsibility by protecting funding for refugee resettlement and humanitarian programs, and rejecting cuts that would undermine services for families, children, and vulnerable newcomers, including unaccompanied immigrant children.   

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Access to Federal Benefits and Post-Arrival Support

Global Refuge advocates to protect refugees and humanitarian entrants from the harms of federal benefit cuts, processing delays, and shrinking resettlement resources. We work with Congress to defend access to food and health assistance, restore critical support, and ensure newcomers can maintain the documentation and legal status needed to secure the services they are entitled to. 

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Unaccompanied Children

Defend against harmful policy changes that put children at risk, and advocate in support of continued programming and funding to protect unaccompanied immigrant children in the U.S.