A Year of Resistance... 20 Years in the Making
In 2019, the Trump Administration escalated its heartless attacks on asylum seekers, continued its campaign against refugee women, children, and families, and took radical steps to shut down access to the asylum process. Facing crisis-level need for our services, the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies stepped up to confront some of the greatest threats to refugee rights in this country’s history.
A Year in Review: Demanding Justice for Refugees, Steadfastly Defending Human Rights
In 2018 the Trump Administration unleashed a slew of cruel and illegal attacks on immigrants and refugees. When the communities we serve came under threat, CGRS’s small team of dedicated advocates mobilized to fight back.
Spring 2018 Newsletter
- Sessions Launches Assault on Asylum Seekers
- CGRS Files Lawsuit Challenging the Arbitrary Detention of Asylum Seekers
- CGRS Supports Efforts to Protect Access to Asylum in Canada
- CGRS Files Brief in Support of Access to Counsel for Immigrant Children
- The Board of Immigration Appeals Issues Troubling Decision Addressing Particular Social Group Claims
- CGRS Releases New Litigation Resources
Not Backing Down - Defending Refugee Rights in 2017
Undaunted by the political setbacks of 2017, CGRS has grown our footprint, expanded staff, and leveraged our impact.
Fall 2017 Newsletter
- Stop Repeating History: Responding to the Muslim Ban
- Expanding Access to Quality Legal Representation in California
- CGRS Develops New Resources for Haitian Women’s Asylum Cases
- CGRS Calls for Clean Dream Act, Prepares to Support DACAmented Asylum Seekers
- Trump Administration Takes Aim at Asylum Seekers and Unaccompanied Children
- CGRS Welcomes Equal Justice Works Fellow Anne Dutton
- CGRS-California Directing Attorney Christine Lin Receives LAAC Award of Merit
- CGRS Director Karen Musalo Participates in UNHCR Roundtable in Costa Rica
- CGRS Advisory Board Member Tanya Broder Receives Western Center on Law & Poverty’s Advocates’ Award
Summer 2017 Newsletter
- CGRS Steps Up Services in Response to Skyrocketing Demand
- CGRS Develops New Resources for Fear-of-Gang Cases
- Resisting Travel Ban 2.0
- Opposing the Asylum Reform and Border Protection Act
- Trump Administration Targets Families of Unaccompanied Children
- Groups Challenge Rejections of Asylum Seekers at the Border
April 2017 Newsletter
CGRS secures a grant of asylum in a compelling domestic violence case before the Eloy Immigration Court in Arizona – a jurisdiction in which judges deny asylum in a staggering 94 percent of cases. We also celebrate the Ninth Circuit’s encouraging en banc decision in an LGBT asylum case, Bringas-Rodriguez v. Sessions, and the satisfying outcome of our Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights et al. v. EOIR.
February 2017 Newsletter
CGRS strongly condemns the draconian and anti-refugee Executive Orders signed by President Trump in January and steps up efforts to protect those fleeing all forms of persecution.
December 2016 Newsletter
CGRS gears up for the fight of our lives in 2017, organizing with allies to protect immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers under the Trump Administration.
2016: A Year in Review
CGRS's work has never been more critical. Facing unprecedented need, we expanded our reach in 2016.
August/September 2016 Newsletter
The Ninth Circuit hears oral arguments en banc in LGBT asylum case Bringas-Rodriguez v. Lynch. The federal Advisory Committee on Family Residential Centers calls for an end to family detention. CGRS offers recommendations for how to responsibly give to Hurricane Matthew relief efforts in Haiti.
July 2016 Newsletter
We briefly explore CGRS's historic role in pioneering legal-medical collaborations to advance protections for severely traumatized asylum seekers. CGRS Co-Legal Director Blaine Bookey receives the prestigious David Carliner Public Interest Award.
May/June 2016 Newsletter
CGRS responds to the new surge of Central American women, children, and families seeking refuge from persecution in the U.S. and condemns the Obama Administration's latest round of high-profile raids targeting this vulnerable population. CGRS Co-Legal Director Blaine Bookey trains Atlanta-area attorneys representing clients before a court with a culture of blanket denials of protection to women and children.
April 2016 Newsletter
CGRS publishes a groundbreaking new report on violence against women in Afghanistan and Tajikistan. CGRS joins coordinated effort to support and train pro bono attorneys representing clients currently held in the immigration detention center in Eloy, Arizona, where asylum denial rates are some of the highest in the country.
March 2016 Newsletter
CGRS co-legal director Blaine Bookey publishes a cutting edge article analyzing inconsistencies in domestic violence asylum cases after the historic A-R-C-G- victory. CGRS and CUNY Brooklyn College are awarded a prestigious National Science Foundation grant to conduct a multi-year study analyzing gender asylum decision-making in the courts going back the last two decades.
February 2016 Newsletter
Historic Sepur Zarco trial on sexual slavery opens in Guatemala. The Inter-American Court on Human Rights issues historic ruling on femicide. CGRS and other immigrant rights groups file FOIA lawsuit on "rocket dockets." 
Sepur Zarco An Account of Violence against Women during Guatemalan Civil War.pdf
Happy 2016 from CGRS
Wishing you peace and justice in 2016.
December 2015 Newsletter
CGRS and the year in review: CGRS's many successes in advancing refugee rights.
2015 CGRS Accomplishments
Highlights from a year at the front lines of advancing refugee rights.
November 2015 Newsletter
CGRS and UC Hastings Refugee and Human Rights Clinic Human Rights Fact-Finding Delegation to Guatemala confirms that impunity for gender-based violence remains the norm. The delegation conducted 20 meetings in five days with government, U.N., and civil society organizations. The information gathered will be incorporated into expert declarations and other country conditions evidence for attorneys representing asylum seekers.
September 2015 Newsletter
CGRS staff visited the newly opened Mesa Verde detention center to conduct KYR presentations and distribute pro se manuals. CGRS expands our reach in California with CGRS-California.
August 2015 Newsletter
One year after the landmark ruling Matter of A-R-C-G- , which established domestic violence as a basis for aslym, CGRS discusses the decision's impact.
July 2015 Newsletter
CGRS applauds the July 24, 2015 U.S. district court ruling that the United States must end detention of migrant children and their mothers.
June 2015 Newsletter
In our latest newsletter, CGRS Co-Legal Director Eunice Lee talks about her visit to the Dilley family detention center.
May 2015 Newsletter
CGRS Director Karen Musalo serves as expert in an Inter-American Court on Human Rights femicide case. CGRS joins 136 members of Congress in calling for an end to the abhorrent practice of family detention.
April 2015 Newsletter
CGRS wishes Lisa Frydman, CGRS Associate Director and Managing Attorney, farewell and best of luck with her new role at Kids in Need of Defense. Thanks to Lisa's work, this month we also released an updated practice advisory for children's asylum claims.
March 2015 Newsletter
CGRS releases a comprehensive study, Childhood and Migration in Central and North America: Causes, Policies, Practices and Challenges, and welcomes new staff.
December 2014 Newsletter
A wrap-up of what was a momentous year for refugee rights.
October 2014 Newsletter
CGRS publishes a new resource to aid Honduras children seeking asylum in the U.S. and partners with Casa Alianza in a multi-national investigation into the treatment of Honduran, Salvadoran, Guatemalan, and Mexican children affected by migration.
October 2014 Action Alert
CGRS urges the Administration to stop locking up mothers and children in detention centers and not to open new centers.
September 2014 Newsletter
CGRS attorneys work in Dushanbe, Tajikistan and Kabul, Afghanistan to train attorneys and law students on providing legal aid to women and girls fleeing gender-based violence.
September 2014 News Alert
The first merits hearing the Artesia detention center and one of the first cases based on domestic violence since the BIA's precedential ruling resulted in a grant of asylum.
August 2014 Action Alert
A landmark decision recognizes domestic violence as a basis for asylum in a major victory for women fleeing gender-based persecution.
August 2014 Newsletter
CGRS assists attorneys in two successful asylum cases, a domestic violence claim and a gang-based claim.
August 2014 Newsletter
CGRS is working with other Bay Area legal service providers to provide training, technical assistance, and resources for volunteer attorneys representing children on the new juvenile dockets.
July 2014 Newsletter
CGRS highlights the stories of children who have fled Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. They come because they are fleeing from threats by gangs, organized crime operatives, human trafficking, physical and secual violence, and other horrific deprivations of thier human rights.
May 2014 Newsletter
CGRS hosts visiting scholar in human rights research and advocacy, and welcomes our summer law clerks and interns.
April 2014 Newsletter
Asylum wins for five clients represented by Hastings Refugee & Human Rights Clinic Students.
March 2014 Newsletter
CGRS releases a new report with Kids In Need of Defense urging immigration reforms to protect child migrants.
February 2014 Newsletter
Helping asylum seekers persecuted by gang violence - victory at the Ninth Circuit!
January 2014 Newsletter
CGRS honors our alum, Will Castillo, who is traveling to Tajikistan in Central Asia to work with stateless individuals, displaced women and girls, and Afghan refugees at the Tajik border.
December 2013 Newsletter
This issue summarizes our major accomplishments in 2013.
November 2013 Newsletter
CGRS announces new project in Central Asia in collaboration with the Danish Refugee Council to address violence against women.
September 2013 Newsletter
CGRS Associate Director Blaine Bookey argued before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in a complex case regarding the intersection between the 1951 Refugee Convention and the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction.
August 2013 Newsletter
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit grants petition for review in the case of Cece v. Holder, marking a triumph for gender-based asylum claims and recognizing that women fleeing sex-trafficking may be eligible for asylum based on membership in such a group.
July 2013 Newsletter
With the passage of the Senate's Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, the immigration debate has shifted to the House, where it faces challenges and contention.
June 2013 Newsletter
On World Refugee Day, CGRS reported on stories of asylum around the globe to commemorate the nearly 44 million refugees and internally displaced people who brave daunting obstacles in their search for safety from armed conflicts, natural disasters, or persecution.
May 2013 Newsletter
On May 17th, International Day Against Homophobia, CGRS applauds the steadily growning international recognition for LGBT rights as well as the courageous individuals working tirelessly to bring this about.
April 2013 Newsletter
The Center for Gender & Refugee Studies applauds the bi-partisan group known as the Gang of 8 for offering an immigration reform bill that creates a pathway to citizenship for our 11 million undocumented residents.
March 2013 Newsletter
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Holds Hearing on the Rights of Children in the Context of Migration in the Americas.
February 2013 Newsletter
CGRS was instrumental in two recent legal victories, the Ninth Circuit case that granted asylum to a Salvadoran girl who faced persecution from the gang members who killer her father after she testified about her fathers death in open court and the case of a Honduran woman fleeing abuse by her violent partner.
