A House with Two Rooms - The Advocates for Human Rights

the United States Government take the following steps to ensure their effective implementation
relative to Liberian refugees:
• The United States Government should eliminate the two-year deadline for filing an I-730
Petition for Refugee/Asylee Relative, to accommodate applications on behalf of the spouses
or children of refugees or asylees whom the
Potential Implementation Strategy:
Review of the P-3 Process
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees should
establish a dedicated review process for P-3
refugee resettlement to allow for a more accurate
assessment of family structure while effectively
preventing fraud. 464
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principle refugee or asylee could not locate
because of the conflict. At a minimum, a
workable waiver process should be created that
permits the consideration of I-730 petitions
after the two-year deadline in cases where the
petitioner can demonstrate that he or she did
not file because he or she could not locate the
family members or required documentation of
the relationship because of the conflict.
• The United States Government should
amend the statutory definition of a “child” for purposes of U.S. family reunification visas,
8 U.S.C. §1101(b)(1), to reflect the reality of family structures that are altered by conflict and
that vary based on cultural patterns, particularly foster or adoptive relationships that are not
recognized by civil courts because of the lack of a functioning court system.
• The United States Government should ensure that the current statutory definition of “child”
is properly applied, particularly in the refugee resettlement context. Although 8 U.S.C.
§1101(b)(1) defines a “child” relatively broadly to include adopted children, step-children,
and legitimated children, in practice
these children, who may meet the
statutory definition of a “child” but
who are not biologically related to the
rest of the family group traveling, are
assumed to be engaging in fraud. The
State Department’s reliance on DNA
evidence, rather than on the statutory
definition of “child,” has resulted in
the suspension of the Refugee Family
Reunification Program (P-3) for
Liberians.
• The United States Government should
immediately review the decision of the
Potential Implementation Strategy:
Youth Programming
Programming for newly reunified youth should
include family counseling, information about
immigration consequences of criminal behavior,
and strategies to assist parents in adapting to the
U.S. child protection regime. Modeling programs
on efforts such as the Immigrant Law Center of
Minnesota’s No Second Chance curriculum focusing
on the immigration consequences to youth of
criminal behavior could be an effective strategy.
State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration to suspend the Refugee
Family Reunification Program for Liberian and other African refugees to ensure that bona
fide family members of refugees are not being denied the ability to reunite with their families.