WASHINGTON—The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission, today announced the following briefing:
PARTIALLY PROTECTED?
Non-Asylum Protection in the United States and the European Union
Friday, June 14, 2019
2:00 p.m.
Rayburn House Office Building
Room 2237
Live Webcast: www.facebook.com/HelsinkiCommission
The United States and the European Union give legal protection to some people who flee armed conflict or natural disaster, but do not qualify as refugees.
In the United States, the Secretary of Homeland Security designates countries of origin for “Temporary Protected Status” (TPS), enabling their nationals to legally remain in the United States and work until and unless the Secretary terminates the designation. Approximately 417,000 individuals from 10 countries currently have TPS, living in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. commonwealths and territories. In 2018, more than 100,300 people were granted similar non-asylum protection, on an individual basis, across the 28 countries of the European Union.
Since 2017, the United States has extended TPS for Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, and announced terminations for El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, and Sudan. Lawsuits have challenged the terminations. To date, Members of Congress have introduced at least 10 TPS-focused bills in the 116th Congress.
This briefing will explore the background and implementation of non-asylum protection in the United States and Europe—including whether some European Union Member States are according this protection even when asylum claims are credible—legislative and legal responses, and implications for policy, law, and protection.
The following panelists are scheduled to participate:
- Marleine Bastien, Executive Director, Family Action Network Movement
- Sui Chung, Attorney at Law, Immigration Law and Litigation Group, and Chair, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Committee, American Immigration Lawyers Association
- Jill H. Wilson, Analyst in Immigration Policy, Congressional Research Service
- Catherine Woollard, Secretary General, European Council on Refugees and Exiles
Additional panelists may be added.
