This Senate resolution restates that the United States should promote the safety, health, and well-being of refugees and displaced people in the United States and around the world. It notes World Refugee Day and the 75th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention. The resolution cites United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) statistics about global displacement in 2025, including totals for refugees, asylum seekers, and internally displaced people and lists major displacement crises (for example, Syria, Ukraine, Sudan, Venezuela, Haiti, Gaza, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rohingya in Bangladesh, and the Sahel).
The resolution states that seeking asylum is a protected right under U.S. and international law and highlights the principle of non-refoulement. It affirms the importance of the United States Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) and refugee resettlement for humanitarian and national security reasons. The text criticizes an existing indefinite suspension of refugee admissions (citing Executive Order 14163) and criticizes the President's fiscal year 2026 Presidential Determination setting a low admissions number and prioritizing arrivals from South Africa. It says many refugees who were approved or ready to travel remain stranded and that some approved refugees were detained for reexamination.
The resolution calls on the President to lift the suspension of refugee admissions and calls on the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations to take various actions. Those actions include restoring asylum protections, increasing humanitarian and development assistance to host countries, supporting UNHCR and nongovernmental organizations, meeting robust refugee admissions goals, implementing pledges made at the 2023 Global Refugee Forum, including refugees in policy decisions, and addressing barriers faced by refugees with disabilities.
No publicly available information. The resolution does not include language that authorizes new spending or amends appropriations in the text provided.
Supporters in the resolution say the United States has legal and moral obligations to protect refugees, that USRAP and resettlement save lives, strengthen national and regional security, support host countries, and help refugees become self-sufficient. The resolution's sponsors argue that current actions (the suspension of admissions and a low Presidential Determination) have stranded approved refugees and reduced U.S. humanitarian leadership and assistance.
No publicly available information.