RCUSA Advocacy Days 2026: Refugee, Faith, and Community Leaders Demand Congressional Action to Restore Refugee, Asylum & Humanitarian Protections

WASHINGTON, DC – Earlier this month, Refugee Council USA (RCUSA) brought together nearly 300 advocates, including 100 refugee and immigrant leaders, to Capitol Hill to meet with more than 160 Members of Congress to demand the full restoration of refugee, asylum, and humanitarian protections. As refugee resettlement remains indefinitely suspended – with exceptions exclusively reserved for Afrikaners – and access to asylum and humanitarian protections are under attack, the demand is clear: resume resettlement for those most at risk and safeguard America’s humanitarian commitments for ALL.

“The U.S. resettlement, asylum, Temporary Protected Status, and humanitarian parole programs have been unlawfully dismantled and corrupted, and swift action from Congress is urgently needed to pressure the administration accountable to reverse course,” said John Slocum, Executive Director of RCUSA. “Welcoming refugees is a core tenant of our national identity and represents the best of who we are. While at-risk refugees and asylum seekers remain stranded abroad in dangerous conditions, the administration has repeatedly targeted those already here for arrest, detention, de-documentation, and deportation. These are not simply policy changes, but rather a betrayal of America’s values, commitments, and obligations. The stakes could not be higher. Congress must act now.”

This year, Advocates highlighted RCUSA’s 2026 key policy priorities:

• Protect refugees, asylum seekers, and other newcomers from harm in the United States, such as from indiscriminate arrests, detention, de-documentation, and deportations. This requires defending, and safeguarding, investments in local communities’ capacity to welcome.
• Strongly pressure the administration to restore access to and invest in humanitarian pathways, including the U.S. resettlement program for the most at-risk refugees, the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa program, access to asylum, and TPS and humanitarian parole. This requires defending, and safeguarding, investments in displacement assistance overseas, as well as refugee processing and admissions – and terminating the series of travel bans. 
• Champion positive legislation and policies that restore eligibility for SNAP (food assistance) and Medicare/Medicaid, exert strong congressional oversight over the operations of the U.S. refugee, asylum, TPS, and humanitarian parole programs, and reject indiscriminate attacks on nonprofits’ 501(c)(3) status.

At the event’s opening session, Jessi Calzado-Esponda, a local DC entrepreneur and Refugee Congress delegate, declared: “We are teachers, doctors, and business owners. We are constituents. And today, we raise our voices to say loud and proud: We Will Welcome.”

See brief video reflections from our advocates of refugee origin below:

• Anastasiia Chystiukhina
• Sarwat Najib Azad
• Rodrigue Makelele 
• Ali Tarokh
• Ally Ntumba
• Nurul Haque
• Yasin Arfat
• Zulikha Akram
• Fatima Saidi
• Muntaha Alhindi
• Latif Nourozi
• Mohibullah Noori
• Ekram Hanna
• Aisha Koroma
• Valeriia Hrytsova
• Hala Halabi
• Pyae Sone Aung
• Teddy Almutady
• Tajalla Moslih

Visit RCUSA’s website for additional resources. 

Media contact: Mariam Sayeed, msayeed@rcusa.org 

RCUSA is a diverse coalition advocating for just and humane laws and policies, and the promotion of dialogue and communication among government, civil society, and those who need protection and welcome. Individual RCUSA members do not all address all refugee-related issues, nor do all individual members approach common refugee-related issues identically.