For most of the 4 decades since World War II, US refugee and asylum policy has been generous but ad hoc, discretionary, and highly variable favoring some refugee groups and discriminating against or ignoring others. This paper: 1) tries to clarify some of the terminology of the refugee field and explains the distinctions between asylum and resettlement, 2) provides some of the historical background that has brought the US to its present condition and chronicles the US overseas refugee admission policy, and 3) examines some asylum issues and other refugee issues. Asylum is far more difficult to control than refugee resettlement. As a result of what is perceived to be abuse of the asylum system, the US has joined the growing tendency of states to treat asylum-seekers as illegal migrants. The greatest problem with American asylum policy is its lack of fairness of application; many critics believe that foreign policy factors dominate asylum hearings rather than the individual merits of the case. The 3 classic solutions to this problem are resettlement, voluntary repatriation, and settlement in a country of 1st asylum. Only in the Indochinese refugee crisis has resettlement been widely used as a solution for 3rd World refugees. Nationalism and nation-building conflicts are at the root of many refugee movements; hosts are often no less nationalistic than source countries, thus many non-integrated refugees live in peril. Developed country political will and statesmanship are needed to revive resettlement as a durable solution. Resettlement may be difficult and costly, but the pluralistic western societies do offer an integrated new life.

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Americas refugee population Migrants demography developing country Population Dynamics Developing Countries Refugees Developed Countries policy Illegal Migrants Settlement And Resettlement United States North America Western Hemisphere Article migration international migration developed country Demographic Factors Emigration and Immigration Transients and Migrants Northern America public policy Historical Survey Migration Policy Population Policy