Refugee Council USA Commemorates the 45th Anniversary of the Refugee Act of 1980

Washington, D.C. – Today, the Refugee Council USA (RCUSA) commemorates the 45th anniversary of the Refugee Act of 1980, a landmark law that reshaped the U.S. approach to refugee and asylum protection and refugee resettlement. This critical piece of legislation established the modern U.S. refugee and asylum programs, providing a safe haven for those fleeing persecution and ensuring that refugees could rebuild their lives with dignity and opportunity.

This anniversary provides an opportunity to reflect on the values of compassion and justice that have guided U.S. refugee policy for decades. The Refugee Act is grounded in the recognition that protecting refugees is both a moral and legal obligation. 

Today, our country’s longstanding bipartisan commitment to refugee and asylum protection is on the line. Over the last few weeks, the Trump administration has ramped up attacks on refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants, signing a host of harmful executive orders since January 20th that undermine our national security, tarnish our global reputation, and eliminate crucial protections and safe pathways for those fleeing persecution. The administration is following through on threats to deport even those individuals and families that our country has previously granted protection. 

The existential threats to our nation’s capacity to welcome cannot be overstated. A funding freeze – and ongoing effort to eviscerate the resettlement infrastructure in the United States and abroad – has left thousands of persecuted refugees stranded abroad, kept families separated, and cut off American communities and congregations from the refugees they are eager to help. Compounding this harm is the Trump administration’s sweeping and gratuitous slap across refugee-serving, community-based organizations to abruptly end services to refugees that have already arrived in the United States, crippling the ability of home-town social service groups across the country to do their jobs. 

These attacks take place at a time when the global need to assist refugees and forcibly displaced populations is higher than ever before. The current legal landscape reflects these concerns; in recent weeks, a lawsuit challenging the suspension of refugee processing and admissions, as well as funding to and contracts with refugee-serving agencies was filed by International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) on behalf of Church World Service (CWS), HIAS, Lutheran Community Services Northwest (LCSNW), and nine impacted individuals. Litigation to uphold the protections guaranteed under the Refugee Act is in effort to advocate for the rights of refugees to receive timely, fair, and compassionate resettlement support. The legal battle underscores the pressing need for the United States to honor its commitments and to restore the integrity of the resettlement system.

“At the forty-five year mark, we honor the Refugee Act as a foundational element of U.S. humanitarian policy,” said John Slocum, Executive Director of RCUSA. “We should be celebrating the innovations of the U.S. resettlement program as a standard of excellence around the world. But today we need bipartisan champions in Congress – and at the state and local levels of government – to heed and amplify the voices of everyday Americans across the country who are eager to continue welcoming refugees and newcomers. We must not toss aside decades of America’s humanitarian leadership for the sake of vitriolic ideologues and political shortsightedness, for a view that treats empathy and adherence to the rule of law as weaknesses, rather than sources of strength. We must create a path forward that not only meets the needs of refugees but bolsters our moral and legal responsibility to provide protection to those who need it most.”

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. This statement does not necessarily reflect the views of each individual RCUSA member organization.

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