Center for Gender & Refugee Studies

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Center for Gender & Refugee Studies

Advancing the fundamental human rights of refugee women and children around the world.

08/14/2026

CGRS is excited to launch our second annual Refugee Leadership Program, designed to support individuals who have personally experienced forced displacement and incorporate their expertise into our work.

Fellows will gain hands-on experience advocating for refugee rights in the United States, as well as enriching professional development and networking opportunities. They will also lead a project shaped by their interests and perspectives.

This is a remote, paid opportunity. Learn more and apply by August 30 at bit.ly/rlp2027.

📸 Khalid Eid

08/01/2026

🚨🇭🇹Earlier this week, the Trump administration's termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti took effect, placing over 330,000 Haitians at risk of deportation overnight.

We need our leaders in Congress to step up NOW to protect our Haitian neighbors.

In April, the House passed a bill that would require the administration to extend TPS for Haiti through 2029. This bill is now before the Senate, where it currently has 30 cosponsors. It needs at least 60 to advance.

Please call your Senator’s office and urge them to become a cosponsor today, using these call scripts adapted from our partners at the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH). ☎️

Follow IJDH and our partners at Haitian Bridge Alliance for updates and legal info for impacted community members.

07/31/2026

🚨Today the Trump administration abandoned over 20,000 immigrant and refugee children, allowing the contract that covered their legal representation to expire.

“For over 10 years, CGRS has had the honor of supporting attorneys representing children seeking asylum through the Unaccompanied Children Program,” CGRS Deputy Director Moira Duvernay said today.

"We have seen firsthand the life-saving difference that legal representation makes for vulnerable children fleeing persecution, trafficking, and violence. These children desperately need an advocate in their corner to keep them safe and to ensure their due process rights and best interests are respected."

Swipe through to learn more and take action to protect unaccompanied kids.

Read our full statement: https://cgrs.uclawsf.edu/en/news/cgrs-decries-gutting-unaccompanied-children-program

07/02/2026

🚨Speak up for people seeking safety today!

Last Thursday, the Supreme Court gave Trump the green light to slam the door on people seeking asylum at our nation’s doorstep.

The Court’s ruling in our case Mullin v. Al Otro Lado threatens a crucial lifeline for families, children, and adults fleeing danger.

We need Congress to reject Trump’s cruel policies and make things right.

Call your reps today and urge them to take immediate action to protect the rights of people seeking asylum.

06/25/2026

🚨The Supreme Court has delivered a devastating blow to asylum rights in the United States.

In Mullin v. Al Otro Lado, the Court ruled today the government can physically block people from seeking asylum at official border crossings, turning them back to danger.

As Justice Sotomayor explained in a dissent joined by Justices Kagan and Jackson, the Court’s decision “blesses the Executive Branch’s decision to slam the door shut on all who are fleeing persecution, despite the detailed inspection and asylum system that Congress enacted and commands.”

Swipe through to read initial reactions from our legal team, and read our full statement here: https://cgrs.uclawsf.edu/en/news/blow-asylum-rights-supreme-court-allows-trump-administration-block-asylum-seekers-border

06/10/2026

The Supreme Court is poised to rule on a case that could slam the door shut on people seeking refuge at our nation's doorstep.

In an op-ed for TIME, former congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman calls the Trump administration's arguments in our case with Al Otro Lado "a distortion of the law" and "a display of callous indifference to the tragedies that moved Congress to pass the Refugee Act," a bill that she co-authored.

"The Congress in which I served, in legislation which I co-authored, intended to give asylum seekers who encounter a U.S. official at the border the opportunity to exercise their right to seek asylum," Holtzman says. "It’s that simple ... lives are at stake."

Read Holtzman's full op-ed: https://time.com/article/2026/06/09/i-helped-write-the-refugee-act-trump-is-trampling-it/

04/30/2026

📽️ Please join CGRS, the Law and Society Association, and UC Law SF's RICE Center on May 27 in San Francisco for a film screening and discussion exploring the Sanctuary Movement, which came into existence in the 1980s to protect refugees, and the lessons it teaches us today. This year, as we celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Refugee Convention, we’re coming together to draw inspiration from the Sanctuary Movement and the courage and conscience of those who participated in it.

🗓️ Wednesday, May 27, 5:30-7:30 pm PT
📍 333 Golden Gate Ave 5th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94102
✨ RSVP at bit.ly/sanctuaryfilmevent

📽️ Documentary filmmaker Theo Rigby will present excerpts from two of his films: Sanctuary: Faith and Resistance and Si Pudiera Quedarme.

🎤 We will also hear from:
✨Jose Artiga, Executive Director, SHARE Foundation
✨Professor Karen Musalo, CGRS Faculty Director and Professor, UC Law SF
✨Professor Ming Hsu Chen, RICE Faculty Director and Professor, UC Law SF
✨Pastor Drew Paton, Associate Pastor, First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley

Reception to follow with light refreshments. We hope to see you there!

INation Media

04/24/2026

BREAKING: Today a federal appeals court ruled that the Trump administration's Day 1 proclamation aimed at completely shutting down asylum at the border is unlawful.

“Since January of last year, the government has used the proclamation to implement a near-total shutdown of asylum processing, slamming the door on vulnerable families, children, and adults seeking refuge,” CGRS Litigation Director Melissa Crow said today.

“As the court rightly concluded, U.S. law is clear: People seeking safety have a legal right to apply for asylum. The government cannot wield racist, baseless claims of an ‘invasion’ to override Congress and deprive them of that right.”

We are proud to represent our partners at RAICES, Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, and The Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project in this lawsuit, alongside our co-counsel at ACLU, National Immigrant Justice Center, Texas Civil Rights Project, ACLU of the District of Columbia, and ACLU of Texas.

Learn more and read our full statement: https://cgrs.uclawsf.edu/en/news/federal-appeals-court-rules-trump-proclamation-eliminating-asylum-unlawful

Photo Credit: Khalid Eid | Survival Media Agency

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http://cgrs.uclawsf.edu/

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