Who is a refugee?
All refugees are immigrants, but not all immigrants are refugees. So what is the difference?
Typically, an immigrant is someone who is making a conscious choice to move to another country – typically for better opportunities in employment and/or education. Refugees, on the other hand, do not have the luxury of choice. Refugees are forced to flee their homes – not for a ‘better’ life, but for life itself. In order to be granted refugee status, a person must be fleeing war, violence, persecution, or the well-founded fear of persecution for the reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group. Natural disasters and/or poverty will not grant someone refugee status in another country.
Terminology
Asylum
A form of protection available to people who:
– Meet the definition of refugee
– Are already in the United States, or
– Are seeking admission at a port of entry
DACA
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals was an executive branch program started in 2012 which gave deferred action, but not a path to permanent legal status.
DREAMer
Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act is a Congressional bill proposed several times but which has never been passed, which would grant a path to permanent legal status for undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children.
Immigrant
Person who moves to another country permanently.
Parolee
Parole is a special type of admission offered on a discretionary basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit. This is not the same as a visa; parolees must be vetted for Legal Permanent Residency after arrival.
Refugee
Person who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war, or violence. A refugee has a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group.
Special Immigrant Visa (SIV)
Person who worked with the U.S. Armed Forces or under Chief of Mission authority as a translator or interpreter in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Unaccompanied Minor
Refers to status at arrival in the U.S.A., not current living situation.
Undocumented / Irregular
Person without documented immigration status in the United States.
Video Recommendations
The 1% | Follow a Karen family from their refugee camp in Thailand to their new U.S. Home
Abeny Kucha | A Nebraskan refugee from South Sudan tells her powerful story
Culture Shock | Lost Boys come to America
New York for the First Time | A Burmese Muslim refugee arrives in New York
Dreams | We all have a right to dream
No One Means to Be a Refugee | A Nebraskan refugee (SIV) couple from Afghanistan tells their story
Lost For Words | See the impact a mentor can have on a newly arrived refugee's life
Reading Recommendations
The Last Girl | Nadia Murad is a Yazidi woman who escaped ISIS in Iraq
Life in Exile | A Nebraskan refugee from Somalia tells his powerful story
Lost Boy Lost Girl | Escaping civil war in (what is now) South Sudan