Overview

• Internal State Department documents and a spokesperson confirm a U.S.-hosted event this month on the margins of the UN General Assembly to promote asylum rule changes.
• The proposed framework would require people to seek protection in the first country they enter and treat asylum as temporary, with host governments deciding when return is possible.
• Andrew Veprek, the nominee to lead the State Department’s refugee bureau, told senators the current system is abused and should be reshaped.
• Planning notes show the refugee bureau has been redirected toward migration diplomacy, with officials prioritizing resettlement of South Africa’s Afrikaner minority and reporting 138 arrivals so far.
• Advocates warn the plan would erode protections rooted in postwar treaties, and reporters note the U.S. cannot unilaterally rewrite global pacts or count on broad international backing.