An Examination of US Refugee Policy Over Time

• In Event: Refugee Crises, Policies, and Violence against Refugees

Abstract

This project examines the prevalence of refugee issues in US human rights reporting over time. Employing text analysis techniques developed for the Sub-National Analysis of Repression Project, this paper will explore how much attention is given to refugee issues in the State Department’s annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, which have been published since the 1970’s to inform foreign aid decision-making. Drawing upon literature of foreign-policy making, this project will examine more how the shifts in the bureaucratic organization of the State department itself, as well as congressional action, leads to changes in how concerns about refugees are reflected in the US reporting on the topic. This project will be helpful in understanding how refugee policy varies in salience over time and the degree to which it becomes a standard priority of the American foreign-policy making establishment.

Authors

• Thorin Martin Wright, Arizona State University

• Rebecca Elizabeth Cordell, University of Texas at Dallas