The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

Refugees & Asylum

A refugee is a person outside the U.S. who seeks protection on the grounds that he or she fears persecution. To obtain refugee status, the person has to prove that he or she has a "well-founded fear of persecution" on the basis of the person's race, religion, membership in a social group, political opinion, or national origin.

A person who has already entered the U.S. and who fears persecution if sent back to his or her home country can apply for asylum in the U.S. To obtain asylum, the individual has to prove that he or she has a "well-founded fear of persecution" on the basis of the person's race, religion, membership in a social group, political opinion, or national origin.

As a result of the 1996 immigration laws, refugees fleeing persecution are now much more likely to be sent back by low-level immigration officials.

• Lost in the Labyrinth: Detention of Asylum Seekers in the USA - Report - Amnesty International - 8/31/09
• In Liberty's Shadow - U.S. Detention of Asylum Seekers in the Era of Homeland Security - Report - Human Rights First - 1/15/04
• LCCR Letter to Atty. General Ashcroft on Women Asylum-Seekers - Advocacy Letter - 02/26/03
• New Report Says U.S. Turns Its Back on Female Refugees - Feature Story - 1/22/03
• Testing the Faithful: Religion and Asylum Summary Results of Survey (pdf) - Report - Human Rights First - November 2002
• LCCR Letter to President Bush re: Haitian Refugees - Advocacy Letter - 11/04/02
• Is This America? The Denial of Due Process to Asylum Seekers in the United States - Report - Human Rights First - October 2000
• Refugees Behind Bars: The Imprisonment Of Asylum Seekers In The Wake of the 1996 Immigration Act - Report - Human Rights First - 7/20/99