Rainbow Railroad condemns a series of recent directives from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that further threaten asylum and refugee protections across the United States. Last week, a leaked memo from USCIS outlined plans to review over 230,000 refugees admitted between January 2021 and February 2025, and immediately halt the processing of all green card applications for refugees, as well as call for the full suspension of asylum case processing.
Although the U.S. operates one of the most stringent refugee vetting processes of any resettlement country, it has also reinstated intrusive “turn back” practices that deny asylum seekers the right to apply for protection at its border. This dual attack on the cornerstone of U.S. humanitarian law will place LGBTQI+ asylum seekers at even greater risk as the doors to safety close.
Under the previous administration, Rainbow Railroad — as the only LGBTQI+-led Private Sponsor Organization (PSO) in the U.S.— helped launch and operationalize the Welcome Corps Private Sponsorship Program. Through this program, we successfully resettled 42 LGBTQI+ refugees and served as a consultative partner to ensure queer competency was built into the program and shared as a best practice to other immigration organizations. In 2024, we advanced to third-party naming, which enabled direct LGBTQI+ referrals into the United States Refugee Admission Program (USRAP), a historic milestone for LGBTQI+ refugee resettlement.
The current U.S. Administration’s anti-LBGTQI+ and anti-immigrant policies and rhetoric continue to dismantle these gains systematically. The indefinite suspension of refugee pathways, such as USRAP, coupled with the recent order to reopen finalized cases and freeze refugee protections, retraumatizes LGBTQI+ asylum seekers and refugees who face persecution, bias, and violence throughout their journeys to build safety.
These orders will not only endanger LGBTQI+ asylum seekers and refugees within U.S borders, but will also have regional consequences. As U.S. refugee protections collapse, LGBTQI+ asylum seekers impacted by this policy regime will face a growing risk of recurrent displacement. With lawful pathways closing, many LGBTQI+ asylum seekers residing in the U.S. will be forced to seek out irregular pathways toward Canada in search of safety. Rainbow Railroad anticipates a growing demand for requests for help coming from LGBTQI+ asylum seekers seeking safety at the U.S.-Canada border who face heightened risk of arbitrary detention, misgendering, and accelerated asylum procedures that fail to account for the realities of SOGIESC-based persecution.
The U.S. no longer functions as a rights-based democracy for those seeking protection, as mechanisms of accountability have been replaced by surveillance and “counter terrorism” frameworks that disproportionately target LGBTQI+, human rights defenders, and migrant communities. Operating within this hostile context, Rainbow Railroad continues to support queer and trans asylum seekers with cash assistance and through our Community Support Teams and Community Access Fund. We are committed to assisting at least 900 LGBTQI+ refugees and asylum seekers in the U.S. by the end of the year.
Rainbow Railroad calls on our community of donors to sustain our work during this increasingly difficult time. A successful 60in60 campaign will enable us to support the most at-risk and affected individuals as we work to expand pathways to safety for forcibly displaced LGBTQI+ refugees at a moment of unprecedented need.