Summary Report

28 April 2026 Hybrid Webinar 

The world is witnessing a profound crisis in migration governance, characterized by the erosion of multilateralism and a direct assault on the human rights of migrants.

In January 2026 alone, the United States withdrew from 66 treaties and organizations, contributing to an alarming period of rights rollbacks that extend far beyond its borders.

A hybrid event held during the Second Global Gender and Migration Forum, just prior to the UN’s International Migration Review Forum (IMRF) in New York, sought to ground advocacy in the lived realities of those most affected by these exclusionary and draconian policies. Current U.S. migration enforcement has become increasingly militarized and unaccountable, normalizing arbitrary arrests and violence.

These policy choices prioritize borders over people and have a disproportionate impact on women and gender-diverse individuals: The Feminist Migration Policy Agenda (FMPA) — elaborated from a bottom-up participative approach by the Women in Migration Network (WIMN) – argues that migration justice cannot be achieved through technical fixes or piecemeal protections. Instead, it demands a structural transformation that addresses the political, economic, racial, and patriarchal foundations of the current system.

The event was co-sponsored by Afro Resistance, Global Gender & Migration Forum, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, and Women in Migration Network.

Opening

The moderator, Mayuri Anupindi, (Human Rights Lawyer and Global Advocacy Strategist at the UUSC), briefly introduced the Feminist Migration Policy Agenda (FMPA) created by Women in Migration Network (WIMN) to give welcome remarks and set the context for the event. 

Roula Seghaier, International Coordinator at Women in Migration Network, gave the opening remarks focusing on why the FMPA is necessary in today’s political world and the importance of the International Migration Review Forum (IMRF). In regards to the IMRF, she discussed the ongoing push to hold the line on gendered language. By removing gendered language, policies remove the unique experiences that women and gender diverse migrants experience. Which is why she stressed that there is a dire need to find ways to advocate for women and gender diverse migrants right now when multilateralism is being threatened, highlighting that our oppressions are collective and require a collective movement. Additionally, advocacy spaces have been shrinking in recent times due to consistent attacks and harsh funding cuts, which impact women and gender diverse-led organizations the most. She urged us to come together and be present as one united movement in a time where there is a united movement to silence the voices of vulnerable groups and a backlash on human rights. She asked us to not just consider what voices are not being heard, but what happens if those voices continue to be silenced.

Snehal Dhote, Center for Gender, Migration, and Justice, spoke briefly about the work in her organization to facilitate collaboration across sectors and create a shared global vision. She emphasized how their work centers the lived experiences of migrants and the knowledge it brings about how systems operate to affect their daily lives. Then, she ended by encouraging everyone to join the events being hosted for the IMRF to continue to be part of the conversation. 

Panel Discussion

Shanti Uprety, (WIMN FMPA Researcher)

• Shanti introduced and analyzed the structure of the FMPA, highlighting its intersectional and human rights based and collectively developed framework. She discussed the importance of the themes within it, and how it can be used as a tool for strategic advocacy across local, national, regional, and global policy spaces.
• The FMPA positions governments and institutions as having binding obligations, and therefore are duty bearers, while migrants are right holders with legitimate claims. In doing so, the FMPA gives an action call to governments and institutions to implement the solutions within to fix the gaps in inequalities that impact the lives of migrants.
• Additionally, a feminist lens interrogates how policies are made. Gender responsive migration policy is not sufficient on its own because migration governance is shaped by climate and foreign policies, labor markets, investment and tax systems, and global trade rules. Therefore, we must understand how these forces interact and therefore impact migrants, because without doing so, the problems will continue. With that in mind, Shanti asked the audience to question who shapes policy, who benefits from them, who is left invisible, and whose rights are privatized.
• She emphasised that this policy agenda is necessary now because migration governance is “at a difficult crossroads” and at its “most alarming period in decades.” Shanti pointed to how borders in recent years have become increasingly militarized and externalized, which has led to governments/institutions not only acting against migrants but also against its own citizens to normalize arbitrary arrests and violence. This has led to the expedition of deportations and the mass detention of permanent residents, culminating in the rollback of humanitarian protections. This is unprecedented institutional intimidation, as Shanti argues that some United Nation agencies have even been pressured to remove their gender and inclusion content. Additionally, the effects of funding cuts have negatively impacted civil society, particularly migrant-women led organizations which have had to close or suspend core programs in order to survive.
• Shanti ended by discussing the structural framework of the report, the issues that it discusses, and highlights from the report. Highlights included how the policy agenda examines the impact of corporate interests and global capitalist expansion on migration systems, how digital tools that are described to be tools for protection are instead weaponized for surveillance and control, reforms to the deportation process that fail to resolve punitive migration governance, criminalization as more than harmful narratives, and the decriminalization of sex work.

Janay Cauthen, Director of Families for Freedom

• Janay discussed how she knows “firsthand what it means to be a woman impacted by this system” by telling her personal story and how migration governance affected it. She explained that she met a Haitian man and fell in love with him and they had two children. Then, in the 2010s, their life together was thrown into upheaval when he was deported due to an alleged drug offense he received in the 1980s when he was a teenager. He had apologized to her for the situation but told Janay that he did not know this would occur since he had received a sentence for 32 years, which he already served.
• After becoming a single mother and being forced to watch her partner be deported without any resources, Janay turned her pain into power and became encouraged to fight for her partner and guide others against the system that failed her. This is when she founded Families for Freedom, because she wanted to keep her family together and because she knew that nothing was final. 
• After Janay’s partner was deported, she researched and found information about the possibility for pardons for a second chance. With the help of advocates from her church, she was able to achieve a pardon for her partner and he earned a chance in court. Then, the judge overturned his deportation and they were able to be reunited as a family.
• This experience demonstrated to Janay the necessity to be prepared, which is why she guides people to create safe sheets, or contingency plans in case of deportation. Additionally, knowledge is power and by ensuring that individuals are informed, we can support one another through difficult situations because unfortunately, life is full of them but we must always rise and continue to fight. Janay said that while hate is being spread, we must spread love and teach one another through community and togetherness.

Raquel Cruz-Juarez, Senior Director of Constituency Campaigns at Planned Parenthood Federation of America 

• Raquel connected personally with the topic by describing a time when she was young, holding her mom’s hand at a crossroad, when a caravan of cars which had large pictures of fetal remains on them, passed by. While Raquel did not know this at the time, these cars were an anti-abortion tactic that was intended to demonize abortion. This encouraged Raquel’s mother, an immigrant from Guatemala, to tell Raquel her own abortion story after experiencing sexual violence as an immigrant. 
• Raquel shifted from the personal to discussing the impact today, after the U.S. has struck down the federal right to abortion and left states to decide how to approach the topic, which has led to some states imposing abortion bans while others having progressive policies. This detrimentally affects communities that typically face barriers to reproductive health and now suffer even more under strict abortion bans, especially migrants who already face limitations to accessing healthcare. 
• One example Raquel described is Texas, which is a very large state and contains rural communities that generally have low access to healthcare. In certain regions of Texas, individuals must travel hours from home to reach a healthcare provider. However, along the way, individuals might potentially be stopped at an immigration checkpoint, which scares many migrants into avoiding hospitals or professional help, even in cases of emergency. 
• Raquel argued that this goes beyond abortion because while Trump declares his party the “party of families,” their policies have worked to remove access to Medicaid, prevent WIC or food stamps from being funded, and banned states from passing sexual education. Additionally, access to healthcare has worsened because more than 50 Planned Parenthoods have closed across the country, generally in rural areas which are medical deserts that were previously struggling with healthcare limitations and now have less. These health centers do not just mean loss of access to abortion, but loss of access to breast exams, STI testing, birth control, cervical exams, cancer screenings, etc.
• To conclude, Raquel argued that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is more than an immigration issue, it is a public health issue. She pointed to data that documents how 16 individuals have had miscarriages while in detention and that pregnant and post-partum women are being detained with no access to healthcare. Raquel connected the issue of health and migration by demonstrating how both issues are under attack, and that bodily autonomy is a key building block to both. Without bodily autonomy, individuals would not be able to make decisions about their life, which includes not only healthcare decisions but the choice to move to a new place and therefore, migrate.

Janvieve Williams Comrie, Founder and Executive Director at Afroresistance

• Janvieve began by describing her organization, Afro-Resistance, which is a black-women led political human rights organization that educates individuals on human rights. Their work centers the experiences and leaderships of black communities, particularly black women, by researching policies implemented in the Caribbean region. From their research in the region, specifically Panama, Janvieve focuses her discussion on three key issues they advocate against: institutional anti-black racism in migration, vulnerabilities specific to black women/girls, and systemic violence against black migrants.

1. Institutional anti-black racism in migration

• Janvieve warned that while on the surface, migration governance seems race-neutral, in application they are typically discriminatory against black migrants. This was found through data that demonstrated how black migrants are more likely to be detained and deported, regardless of country. Or, how black migrants were more likely to be arrested and have violence used on them, regardless of age or gender.
• One institutional failure Janvieve described as an example is how many black migrants do not receive Know Your Rights trainings. Janvieve organized training in Panama where they received high attendance from black migrants who admitted to not receiving this information from other organizations and would have suffered heavily if they lacked this information after crossing the U.S. border.

2. Vulnerabilities specific to black women/girls

• As people were migrating through Panama, Janvieve interviewed them and learned how many black women/girls received consistent lack of medical care. This led to women giving birth while in transition or in informal settings, or experiencing gender based violence. For example, some women and their potential daughters lack access to menstrual products or safe/private spaces to bathe or change. The likelihood of discrimination rose for black women migrants who were at higher risk to be turned away or made to wait longer for access to shelters.
• One vulnerability for women migrants is the burden of caregiving as women typically travel with multiple children, sometimes not even their own. Therefore, the women are placed in charge of when and what the group eats, caring for the children, and supporting the family. This is why Janvieve stressed the need for emotional and mental health support since there is a psychological and emotional impact to migration that goes underrepresented.
• Another vulnerability is economic since migration transit may involve traveling through multiple countries which could take place over months. In order to survive along the journey, some women migrants are forced to participate in jobs in transit countries but many black women are unable to access formal employment, which forces them into informal work. This places black migrant women at risk because informal work includes a high risk of the individual being underpaid, having their passports withheld, or being promised money that is never given.

3. Systemic violence against black migrants

• Janvieve discussed the lack of language access/justice given to black migrants. Most resources in regards to immigration prioritize Spanish translations and lack other common languages utilized by African migrants, such as French, Arabic, Urdu, etc. This lack of interpretation means limited access to asylum or resources and causes black migrants to become invisible in the system.
• Next, Janvieve explained the social racism that exists widely throughout the globe, especially in transit countries that perpetuate anti-blackness beliefs. This includes racial profiling and socially isolating black migrants. Black migrants have their identities always hyper visible and therefore, struggle with being perceived as out of place everywhere they travel. 

• Janvieve concluded by arguing that these issues are structural, and therefore can be solved. The first step is to have governance recognize the disparities in equality that exist and how this is a result of racism. Then, governments will be encouraged to ensure language justice is an essential standard alongside intentional designs of gender responsive policies that explicitly recognize black women/girls. This can only be done by having governments be proactive and not reactive by pushing for governments to invest in black-led organizations that are community-informed. Janvieve states that solutions can only be found by designing systems with all of us in mind.

Closing

• Due to a lack of time, the audience was unable to ask questions or leave comments during the event but they were encouraged to reach out to WIMN or the panelists independently.
• Roula began to weave the discussions of each panelist together by emphasizing how each topic, whether about anti-migration or anti-abortion or anti-blackness, are all eugenicist beliefs and practices. These attacks on migration and the push to externalize migration do not create fairness but detention centers in the Global South to perpetuate eugenics. In this way, Roula argued that the far-right have created reverse intersectionality by building a movement that recognizes how hate must be connected to be against all issues.
• Then, Roula concluded the event by explaining how the FMPA is meant to be a manifesto acknowledging the work that women-led organizations have accomplished, and how we can take our knowledge to create solutions that address the gaps in the system. After explaining how hate in the far-right movement encompasses all forms of oppression, Roula stressed the necessity to move beyond siloes employing an intersectionlity of love in response by having community with sister allies.

END