Mark Greenberg

Mark Greenberg was a Senior Fellow and Director of MPI's Human Services Initiative, where his work focused on the intersections of migration policy with human services and social welfare policies.

From 2009-17, Mr. Greenberg worked at the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He served as ACF Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy from 2009-13; Acting Commissioner for the Administration for Children, Youth, and Families from 2013-15; and Acting Assistant Secretary from 2013-17. ACF includes the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which has responsibility for the refugee resettlement and unaccompanied children program.

Previously, Mr. Greenberg was Executive Director of the Georgetown Center on Poverty, Inequality, and Public Policy, a joint initiative of the Georgetown Law Center and Georgetown Public Policy Institute. In addition, he previously was Executive Director of the Center for American Progress’ Task Force on Poverty, and the Director of Policy for the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP).

He is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, and was a legal services lawyer in Florida and California for ten years after graduating law school.

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    Different Statuses, Different Benefits: Determining Federal Assistance for Afghan Evacuees

    Afghans evacuated to the United States are entering with a range of legal statuses, with important implications for their ability to access benefits and services that will help them settle into their new communities. This commentary outlines the different statuses and resulting consequences for eligibility for assistance, based on whether the arrivals are recognized as refugees, Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) recipients, or parolees.

    Photo of Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken meeting with Afghan evacuees in Germany

    A Solvable Challenge: Improving Asylee Access to Health and Other Benefits

    While asylees are eligible for many of the same public benefits and services as resettled refugees, including health care and employment assistance, there is no system to inform them of their eligibility and to help connect them to resources. MPI estimates that fewer than 20 percent of those granted asylum in recent years received Office of Refugee Resettlement benefits during their first year. The U.S. government could address this gap with a few simple measures.

    Bhutanese refugee sits on bed in family's apartment in New York

    U.S. Government Makes Significant Strides in Receiving Unaccompanied Children but Major Challenges Remain

    The federal government has made notable progress since March 2021 in getting unaccompanied children arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border out of Border Patrol facilities and into Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) custody, and then releasing them to parents or other sponsors. Yet there are serious concerns about standards of care and conditions in a new type of ORR facility: emergency intake sites, as this commentary explores.

    Unaccompanied children in CBP custody before being turned over to the Office of Refugee Resettlement

    Hampered by the Pandemic: Unaccompanied Child Arrivals Increase as Earlier Preparedness Shortfalls Limit the Response

    The increase in unaccompanied child arrivals at the U.S.-Mexico border in February and March has led to backups and overcrowding at U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities ill-suited to house children, in part due to earlier significant reductions in Office of Refugee Resettlement shelter capacity during 2020. This commentary explores preparedness shortfalls and the options the Biden administration has moving forward.

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    The Public-Charge Rule: Broad Impacts, But Few Will Be Denied Green Cards Based on Actual Benefits Use

    While the Trump administration public-charge rule is likely to vastly reshape legal immigration based on its test to assess if a person might ever use public benefits in the future, the universe of noncitizens who could be denied a green card based on current benefits use is quite small. That's because very few benefit programs are open to noncitizens who do not hold a green card. This commentary offers estimates of who might be affected.