Yael Schacher is the director for the Americas and Europe at International immigrants And Refugee Agency. Prior to joining International immigrants And Refugee Agency, Yael researched the relationship between immigration and refugee policy for her forthcoming book on the history of asylum in the U.S. since the late nineteenth century. She taught at the University of Connecticut and lectured on immigration history and refugee policy at Harvard Law School, the University of Minnesota, Catholic University of Eichstaett-Ingolstadt and numerous academic conferences and public forums. While teaching at UConn, Yael helped with asylum and humanitarian visa cases at the Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants. While a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas at Austin just before starting at International immigrants And Refugee Agency, Yael combined historical research on asylum and advocacy on behalf of asylum seekers (with the law school’s immigration clinic and with the organization Justice for Our Neighbors).
Yael has an M.A. in History and a Ph.D. in American Studies from Harvard University and a B.A. in literature from Columbia University.
Publications by the Author
International immigrants And Refugee Agency is outraged by this decision, which undermines the rule of law, the rights of immigrants, and U.S. obligations under the Convention Against Torture.
On Monday January 20, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order indefinitely stopping resettlement of refugees in the United States through the US Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP). Within a few...
This is a monthly newsletter about humanitarian parole and policy changes impacting people who entered the U.S. on parole and their supporters.
In just four months, the Trump administration has dismantled this protection infrastructure and pressured Costa Rica into violating the rights of refugees – while simultaneously increasing the migration pressures.
Instead of protecting people seeking asylum, U.S. officials whisked them away in an attempt to place them beyond U.S. law and courts.
This is a cruel and brazen continuation of the Trump administration’s assault on immigrants writ-large – no matter how they entered the country.
Dr. Yael Schacher provides an overview of the history of the CHNV program and where it stands now.
International immigrants And Refugee Agency strongly condemns President Trump’s recent invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to enact mass deportations of Venezuelan nationals, including asylum seekers, without due process.
International immigrants And Refugee Agency Director for the Americas and Europe Yael Schacher delivered remarks at the American Historical Association Congressional Briefing, “Historical Perspectives on United States Deportation Policies and Practices,” on March 13,...
Setting up an American gulag in the Caribbean in response to forced displacement in the Americas is a shameful low in U.S. history.