People arriving at the U.S. border have the legal right to request asylum without being criminalized, turned back or separated from their children.

Living​ ​in​ ​the​ ​USA,​ ​particularly​ ​in​ ​the​ ​nation’s​ ​capital,​ ​provides​ ​endless​ ​opportunities​ ​to dedicate​ ​time​ ​and​ ​effort​ ​towards​ ​the​ ​refugee​ ​and​ ​asylee​ ​community.​ ​Over​ ​the​ ​summer,​ ​I​ ​was lucky​ ​to​ ​continue​ ​to​ ​contribute​ ​to​ ​this​ ​work​ ​as​ ​the​ ​Asylee​ ​Casework​ ​Intern​ ​with​ ​the​ ​International Rescue​ ​Committee​ ​(IRC).​ ​Kind,​ ​genuine​ ​and​ ​dedicated​ ​doesn’t​ ​begin​ ​to​ ​the​ ​scratch​ ​the​ ​surface of​ ​the​ ​IRC​ ​staff​ ​in​ ​Silver​ ​Spring.​ ​I​ ​had​ ​the​ ​privilege​ ​of​ ​witnessing​ ​and​ ​taking​ ​part​ ​in​ ​clients’ transition​ ​to​ ​the​ ​USA,​ ​and​ ​because​ ​of​ ​this,​ ​I​ ​can​ ​provide​ ​testament​ ​to​ ​the​ ​time​ ​and​ ​effort​ ​that caseworkers​ ​commit​ ​to​ ​each​ ​and​ ​every​ ​client.

The IRC in Seattle joins Mayor Jenny Durkan, Councilmember Lorena González, and others in opposing the Administration's new asylum rules denying safe haven to people fleeing violence and persecution.

Community partnerships create a path for refugees to come full circle and aid other refugees resettling in Utah.

With Santa Clara County seeing a continued upward trend in daily positivity rates for COVID-19, IRC San Jose has remained in full-remote work since mid-March. As we delved deeper into the summer of 2020, this reality made us question the future of Vision 2.0: Summer Job Academy (hereinafter referred to as Vision). Vision is an immigrant-female empowerment workshop aimed at allowing participants to learn about different career paths, to reflect on their personal goals, and to work towards envisioning themselves achieving their goals. Read further to see how we navigated the barriers posed by COVID-19 to still offer this workshop this summer!