University of Georgia Professor Idean Salehyan recently presented “U.S. Refugee Resettlement and Asylum Processing” at the law school. Georgia Law Professor Jason A. Cade, J. Alton Hosch Professor of Law & Community Health Law Partnership Clinic Director, introduced Salehyan and moderated audience questions following his presentation.
Salehyan started with an overview of the 1980 Refugee Act and how it established the refugee resettlement and asylum pathways for humanitarian migration. Then, he discussed how politics and foreign policy have impacted who has historically been admitted through each mechanism. Salehyan talked about the Cold War era and the focus on anti-communism; the 1990s and the legal and administrative changes that took place during this time; and the post 9/11 period when migration was viewed through a security lens. He ended by discussing changes to refugee resettlement priorities and asylum processing under the Trump administration.
This event is part of International Education Week (IEW), a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education. IEW is an effort to promote programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and celebrate the benefits of international education. Join the Dean Rusk International Law Center in celebrating international education throughout the month of November. A full list of Center-sponsored events can be found here.
Salehyan is Professor of International Affairs at the University of Georgia, where his research and teaching focuses on civil and international conflict, migration and refugee policy, protest movements, and environmental security. He also serves as Executive Director of the Peace Science Society (International), the leading academic association for the quantitative analysis of peace and conflict. He is the author of the award-winning book, Rebels Without Borders: Transnational Insurgencies in World Politics (Cornell University Press) and has published in leading journals, including the American Journal of Political Science, International Organization, World Politics, and Journal of Conflict Resolution. Salehyan is Senior Fellow for Immigration Policy at the Niskanen Center in Washington, DC, and regularly provides public commentary on immigration and refugee policy, among other topics. He serves on the Advisory Board of Bridging the Gap, which seeks to forge closer ties between academia and the policy community.
