Kennji Kizuka

Associate Director, Research & Analysis, Refugee Protection

As Associate Director of Research & Analysis for Refugee Protection, Kennji supports Human Rights First’s efforts to promote the protection of refugees, reform U.S. asylum law, policies and practices, and bring other U.S. immigration policies and practices into line with international refugee protection and human rights law standards. At Human Rights First, he previously served as a Senior Researcher and Policy Analyst for Refugee Protection and an Immigrant Justice Corps Justice Fellow on the Refugee Representation team.

Kennji clerked for the Honorable Rosemary S. Pooler on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He received a juris doctor degree, Order of the Coif, from the UC Berkeley School of Law, and holds a Master’s Degree in public affairs from the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. He graduated magna cum laude from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

Recent Articles:

Government Records Shed Light on Illegal Expulsions of Asylum Seekers and Children Bringing the Fight for Refugee Rights to SCOTUS Meeting International Obligations to Welcome and Protect Refugees Examining Title 42 and the Need to Restore Asylum at the Border A Sordid Scheme: The Trump Administration’s Illegal Return of Asylum Seekers to Mexico Delivered to Danger Orders from Above Human Rights Fiasco: The Trump Administration’s Dangerous Asylum Returns Continue A Year of Horrors: The Trump Administration’s Illegal Returns of Asylum Seekers to Danger in Mexico Fallas Fatales The Trump Administration’s Migrant Persecution Protocols Is Guatemala Safe for Refugees and Asylum Seekers? Is Mexico Safe for Refugees and Asylum Seekers? Parsing Truth from Fiction in President Trump’s Latest Attempt to Restrict Asylum Asylum Seekers Barred at the Border Make the Choice to Survive The Refugee Blockade Turns Deadly CBP’s Credible Fear Figures are Out of Context and Inaccurate The End the Shutdown and Secure the Border Act Would Ban Asylum for Central American Children CBP’s Credible Fear Figures are Out of Context and Inaccurate Fatally Flawed Extending Title 42 Would Escalate Dangers, Exacerbate Disorder, and Magnify Discrimination A Shameful Record: Biden Administration’s Use of Trump Policies Endangers People Seeking Asylum “Illegal and Inhumane”: Biden Administration Continues Embrace of Trump Title 42 Policy as Attacks on People Seeking Refuge Mount Failure to Protect: Biden Administration Continues Illegal Trump Policy to Block and Expel Asylum Seekers to Danger Human Rights Stain, Public Health Farce Two Years of Suffering: Biden Administration Continues Use of Discredited Title 42 Order to Flout Refugee Law Restarting Orderly Process Critical to Managing Arrival of Asylum Seekers at Arizona Border Biden Administration’s Dangerous Haitian Expulsion Strategy Escalates the U.S. History of Illegal and Discriminatory Mistreatment of Haitians Seeking Safety in the United States Disorderly and Inhumane: Biden Administration Continues to Expel Asylum Seekers to Danger While U.S. Border Communities Stand Ready to Welcome Humanitarian Disgrace Border Restrictions Lift, But Biden Administration Blocks Protection for Asylum Seekers and Children The Nightmare Continues: Title 42 Court Order Prolongs Human Rights Abuses, Extends Disorder at U.S. Borders