In Davos, Secretary of State John Kerry called for new international commitments to help shore up the safety net for refugees worldwide, with a goal of raising an additional $30m for the UN’s humanitarian efforts. Kerry sought commitments from global partners to:  

1)      persuade 10 new countries to agree to make regular contributions to strengthen funding for the UN’s humanitarian appeals;

2)      encourage partners with legal pathways for refugees to double their refugee admissions, and urge countries without such pathways to create them;

3)      urge partners to increase by one million the number of refugees in school worldwide, and to increase by one million the number of refugees given the legal right to work.

Kerry’s announcement included a pledge that the U.S. would be announcing substantial new commitments of its own as part of this effort, which will culminate in an event to be hosted by President Obama in conjunction with the UN General Assembly session in September 2016. 

In other news out of Davos, George Soros was quoted as saying Donald Trump and Ted Cruz “are doing the work of ISIS.” In a dinner speech focusing primarily on the delicate state of global financial markets, Soros said: “They want people to turn against the Muslim community and make the Muslim community think there is no alternative to terrorism. It turns the Muslim community into a breeding ground for ISIS.” He also called for a Marshall Plan for countries neighboring Syria, and reflected on his own experiences as an immigrant: “I was a migrant for 15 years, but migrants were treated better in those days. I could study, get a job, get travel documents, and think about making $100,000 before retiring. All this while I was a displaced person.”

The New York Times Magazine ran a piece chronicling the obstacles to Syrian refugees resettling in the U.S., pointing out that of the 4.5m people who have fled Syria during its civil war, only 2,647 had found refuge here. The story lays out the daunting gantlet refugees must run: screenings by the FBI, DOD, State, Customs and the National Counterterrorism Center, among other intelligence agencies, in addition to another layer called the “Enhanced Syrian Review” by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office. Notable quote, from David Miliband of the International Rescue Committee: ‘‘It’s extremely difficult to get into the United States as a refugee — the odds of winning the Powerball are probably better.”

The FBI confirmed it is investigating whether an associate professor in the History Department at Kent State University has ties to ISIS.

The Obama administration began implementing changes that tighten the visa waiver program—changes imposed in the aftermath of the Paris and San Bernardino attacks. Grantee the ACLU has objected to a provision included among the changes that imposes restrictions on dual-national citizens of both the U.S. and Iran, Iraq, Sudan or Syria--countries carrying additional strictures—regardless of whether the person had actually visited those countries or not.   

Senate leaders moved to bring up for consideration a measure authorizing the use of military force against ISIS—an alternative to President Obama’s call, authored by recent GOP presidential race dropout Lindsey Graham.

Hard though this may be to believe, given the general tenor of his campaign, Donald Trump released his first negative ad of the 2016 cycle, accusing Ted Cruz of having supported immigration “amnesty.”  

Among grantee activities:

--The ACLU, through an initiative called Take CTRL, helped coordinate a group of state legislators from 16 states who have introduced legislation aimed at bolstering American’s privacy rights, explicitly taking up provisions either ignored or voted down at the federal level. Included among them: language requiring that law enforcement agents obtain a warrant before asking for any digital communications or location data provided by a third-party service, a step hailed by grantee the Center for Democracy and Technology.

--America’s Voice pushed messaging noting that anti-immigrant rhetoric has risen as the number of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. declined to its lowest level since 2003.  The group has also publicized the results of a recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, showing that the tenor of the GOP presidential campaign has done significant damage to the party’s image in the eyes of Latino voters.