Rights of Refugees and Migrants
Dead Ends: No Path to Protection for Asylum Seekers Under the Guatemala Asylum Cooperative Agreement
In 2020-2021, the HRI Fact-Finding Project investigated the legality of the Guatemala ACA and its impact on the human rights of asylum seekers.
Chutes and Ladders: Nonrefoulement and the Sisyphean Challenge of Seeking Asylum in Hungary
Ashley Binetti Armstrong's article focuses its nonrefoulement analysis on Hungary’s designation of Serbia as a safe third country. However, in showing that Serbia is not safe for refugees, this Article concludes that Hungary’s entire “Chutes and Ladders” asylum system violates its nonrefoulement obligations, as Hungary expels or pushes back almost all asylum seekers to Serbia.
The New Refugees and the Old Treaty: Persecutors and the Persecuted in the Twenty-First Century
Andrew Schoenholtz's analysis confirms the conclusion of the International Law Commission Special Rapporteur on Treaties over Time that "subsequent practice by the parties may guide an evolutive interpretation of a treaty."
Interdiction, Border Externalization, and the Protection of the Human Rights of Migrants
International migration is a complex transnational phenomenon. International migrants often cross the borders of many countries en route to their destination. In the context of migration, states have both sovereign rights and responsibilities: rights to regulate their borders and to exercise jurisdiction beyond their territory; responsibilities to protect the human rights of citizens and non-citizens in their territory or subject to their jurisdiction and to provide individuals in need with humanitarian protection. This paper by Jennifer Podkul and Ian Kysel (with the Women's Refugee Commission) considers these issues in the context of the phenomena of border externalization and suggests some of the ways in which border externalization impacts the human rights of migrants.
Lives in the Balance: Asylum Adjudication by the Department of Homeland Security
Although Americans generally think that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is focused only on preventing terrorism, one office within that agency has a humanitarian mission. Its Asylum Office adjudicates applications from people fleeing persecution in their homelands. Lives in the Balance by Andrew Schoenholtz, Philip Schrag, and Jaya Ramji-Nogales is a careful empirical analysis of how Homeland Security decided these asylum cases over a recent fourteen-year period.
International Migrants Bill of Rights, Commentaries, Handbook, Pilot Study and Indicators
The movement and the rights of people crossing borders around the world are inadequately governed and incompletely protected by a fragmented patchwork of international institutions and norms. In response, the International Migrants Bill of Rights (IMBR) contributes a comprehensive, coherent articulation of the legal framework that protects the rights of all international migrants, regardless of the impetus of their migration.
The Cost of Stemming the Tide
In 2014-2015, the HRI Fact-Finding Project and practicum course examined the the impact of immigration enforcement practices in Southern Mexico on migrant children's access to international protection.
Sent "Home" With Nothing: The Deportation of Jamaicans with Mental Disabilities
In 2011-2011, the researchers visited Jamaica and conducted more than 50 interviews with deported persons, mental health professionals, civil society representatives, and government officials.
Refugee Crisis in America: Iraqis and Their Resettlement Experience
In 2008-2009, researchers examined and assessed the United States' policies, practices, and legal framework with regard to the resettlement of Iraqi refugees though interviews in Washington, D.C., Detroit, San Diego, and Amman, Jordan.
Moving Forward: Recommendations on U.S. HIV Immigration Policy (Haiti)
In 2008, researchers traveled to Haiti to document the experiences of HIV-positive spouses, children, parents, and siblings of U.S. citizens or Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs) affected by the "HIV bar."
Between the Border and the Street: A Comparative Look at Gang Reduction Policies and Migration in the U.S. and Guatemala
In 2007, researchers examined the rise of gangs in Guatemala and the United States and assessed the anti-gang strategies in each country, compared the relative successes and failures, and offered recommendations.
Unintended Consequences: Refugee Victims of the War on Terror
In 2006, researchers investigated the the unintended consequences of counter-terror policies and the material support bar on Colombian refugees