How to Use This Book
Preface
Introduction

1: Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Global Context

Q1: Who are refugees and asylum seekers under international law, and how are they different from migrants?
Q2: What obligations or requirements does the United States have to admit refugees and asylum seekers?
Q3: Are there greater numbers of migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers than ever before?
Q4: Are all refugees and asylum seekers trying to come to Western and developed countries?
Q5: How generous is the United States in admitting refugees?
Q6: Which countries have accepted the most refugees, asylees, and displaced persons in proportion to their size and wealth?
Q7: What percentage of applicants are granted asylum?

2: US Policies Toward Refugees and Asylees in Historical Context

Q8: Has the United States historically admitted anyone who wants to come?
Q9: How does the current US immigration system work, and how many people are allowed to enter the United States every year?
Q10: How has US policy towards refugees and asylum seekers evolved over time?
Q11: How does the refugee process work in the United States, and how many refugees are admitted each year?
Q12: How does the asylum process work in the United States, and how many people are granted asylum each year?
Q13: Does the United States admit more refugees and asylum seekers than it can absorb?

3: Contemporary US Policies Affecting Refugees and Asylum Seekers

Q14: What are the more recent US refugee and other humanitarian admission measures and their consequences?
Q15: What are the more recent US border and migration policies and their consequences to asylum seekers?

4: Economic Impact of Refugees and Asylum Seekers

Q16: Are refugees and asylum seekers coming to the United States for welfare?
Q17: Do refugees and asylum seekers get benefits that US natives do not receive?
Q18: Are the benefits refugees and asylees receive a net drain on the US and local economies?
Q19: Do refugees and asylees steal jobs from US citizens?

5: Integration of Refugees and Asylum Seekers into US Communities

Q20: Are most refugees and asylum seekers living in the United States educated?
Q21: How do refugees and asylees support themselves in the United States?
Q22: Do most refugees and asylum seekers live in ethnic “ghettos” and fail to assimilate with the wider community?
Q23: How many refugees and asylees become US citizens or eventually return to their countries of origin?

6: Impact of Refugees and Asylees on Crime and Terrorism

Q24: Do refugees and asylum seekers drive up crime?
Q25: Are refugees and asylum seekers likely to be terrorists?
Q26: Why are refugees and immigrants often associated with crime and terrorism?
Q27: Do immigration agents mostly detain and deport traffickers and smugglers?

7: The Costs of US Asylum Deterrence Policies

Q28: How much are border and interior refugee and asylum enforcement policies costing US taxpayers?
Q29: How effective are these measures been at stopping illegal border-crossers and bogus asylum claims?
Q30: Who benefits from these policies?

8: Where Refugees and Asylum Seekers Come From and Why They Stay

Q31: Why can't neighboring host countries absorb refugees and why don't the refugees go home when it is safe?
Q32: Why has the United States admitted so many Somali refugees, and why can't they stay in host countries in Africa?
Q33: Why can't Iraqis, Syrians, and Palestinians stay in neighboring countries where they are culturally integrated?
Q34: Why has the United States admitted so many Afghan refugees instead of letting them stay in neighboring countries?
Q35: Why have so many Central Americans sought asylum in the United States for decades?
Q36: Why has the United States fast-tracked admission of white South Africans as refugees?

9: Legal and Public Responses to Refugee and Migration Policies

Q37: How have courts ruled on whether US policies align with legal obligations towards refugees and asylum seekers?
Q38: Is the American public opposed to admitting refugees and asylum seekers?
Q39: What other countries are implementing policies that benefit refugees, asylum seekers and other immigrants as well as host communities?



Index
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