Dan
Restrepo

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Dan Restrepo

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Dan Restrepo is a senior fellow at American Progress.

For nearly six years and through two presidential campaigns, Restrepo served as the principal advisor to President Barack Obama on issues related to Latin America, the Caribbean, and Canada, serving as special assistant to the president and senior director for Western Hemisphere affairs at the National Security Council from March 2009 to July 2012 and as an advisor to and surrogate for Obama for America during the 2008 and 2012 campaigns.

Previously, Restrepo created and directed The Americas Project—focused on Latin America and on the role of Hispanics in the United States, their future, and the implications for public policy—at the Center for American Progress. First joining the Center shortly after it was established, Restrepo also helped stand up its government and external relations department and served as deputy counsel. Restrepo worked as an associate at the law firm of Williams & Connolly, LLP, and served as a judicial clerk to the Honorable Anthony J. Scirica of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Restrepo also worked for Rep. Lee H. Hamilton on the staff of the House Foreign Affairs Committee in the mid-1990s.

Restrepo, who also serves as a consultant to private-sector clients on strategy, policy, and communications, is also a regular conference speaker and frequent commentator and analyst on various Spanish- and English-language media outlets on a wide range of domestic policy and national security issues.

Restrepo is a graduate of the University of Virginia and the University of Pennsylvania School of Law.

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To Resolve the Humanitarian and Administrative Border Crisis, the U.S. Must Fix the Broken Asylum System, Help Stabilize the Western Hemisphere, and Provide Robust, Orderly Migration Pathways Article
Sunlight his the U.S. Capitol dome.

To Resolve the Humanitarian and Administrative Border Crisis, the U.S. Must Fix the Broken Asylum System, Help Stabilize the Western Hemisphere, and Provide Robust, Orderly Migration Pathways

The just-released Senate border deal is a sincere, bipartisan attempt to create much needed order at the U.S.-Mexico border; release pressure on the broken asylum system, resource agencies, and communities; and provide other targeted solutions across the immigration system. However, to achieve and sustain order at the border, Congress must more boldly address what drives migration in the region and must create accessible lawful pathways that are an alternative to asylum.

Executive Summary: A Whole-of-Government, Society-Wide Approach to Tackling the Opioid Crisis Fact Sheet

Executive Summary: A Whole-of-Government, Society-Wide Approach to Tackling the Opioid Crisis

This fact sheet summarizes a recent Center for American Progress report outlining the need for a whole-of-government, society-wide approach to addressing the complex challenges posed by the opioid overdose epidemic.

Trinh Q. Truong, Debu Gandhi, Jill Rosenthal, 5 More Marquisha Johns, Mariam Rashid, Dan Restrepo, Akua Amaning, Cleo Bluthenthal

Tackling the Opioid Crisis Requires a Whole-of-Government, Society-Wide Approach Report
U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents sift through packages in search of fentanyl.

Tackling the Opioid Crisis Requires a Whole-of-Government, Society-Wide Approach

The opioid epidemic is a complex public health crisis that can be ameliorated by addressing root causes of drug use; expanding access to treatment and harm reduction strategies; and reducing the supply of illicit opioids entering the United States.

Trinh Q. Truong, Debu Gandhi, Jill Rosenthal, 5 More Marquisha Johns, Mariam Rashid, Dan Restrepo, Akua Amaning, Cleo Bluthenthal

The US Should Be Leading the Global Response to the Coronavirus Crisis Article
A man walks through the U.S. Capitol rotunda, which has been empty of tourists due to recent restrictions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Washington, D.C., March 2020. (Getty/Chip Somodevilla)

The US Should Be Leading the Global Response to the Coronavirus Crisis

COVID-19 is presenting an unprecedented test for every country; here’s how the United States can lead the response, save lives both at home and abroad, and successfully meet this global challenge.

Max Bergmann, Simon Clark, Siena Cicarelli, 5 More Michael Fuchs, James Lamond, Kelly Magsamen, Alexandra Schmitt, Dan Restrepo

The Real Roots of the Border Crisis Video
 (Thumbnail for migration video)

The Real Roots of the Border Crisis

The United States has to first understand what's driving migration in the Americas in order to manage it in a cooperative, compassionate, and pragmatic way.

Dan Restrepo, Joel Martinez, Joel Martinez, 1 More Andrew Satter

Getting Migration in the Americas Right Report
Venezuelan migrants wait for refugee applications at the Peruvian border in Tumbes on June 14, 2019. (Getty/AFP/Cris Bouroncle)

Getting Migration in the Americas Right

The United States must reject the politics of cruelty and chart a new course on migration policy that is cooperative, compassionate, and pragmatic.

Dan Restrepo, Dan Restrepo, Joel Martinez

Brazil: A Turn to the Reactionary Right Article
Jair Bolsonaro, far-right lawmaker and president-elect of Brazil, October 2018 (Getty/Ricardo Moraes)

Brazil: A Turn to the Reactionary Right

Brazil’s recent election of Jair Bolsonaro as president ushers in an era of uncertainty in the world’s fifth-largest country that will put its democracy as well as its constructive role in the Americas and the world in question.

Dan Restrepo

Venezuela in Crisis: A Way Forward Report
Protesters gather outside of the headquarters of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service in Caracas, where they are met with a heavy police presence. (Getty/Roman Camacho)

Venezuela in Crisis: A Way Forward

The escalating crisis in Venezuela demands concerted, peaceful action by the United States and the international community to assist the Venezuelan people, in Venezuela and throughout the Americas.

Dan Restrepo

Normalcy and Rationality Need Champions in U.S.-Mexico Ties In the News

Normalcy and Rationality Need Champions in U.S.-Mexico Ties

Author Dan Restrepo discusses why normalcy and rationality—two things President Trump is unable to provide—are needed to build a constructive U.S.-Mexico relationship.

Latin Trade

Dan Restrepo

Preserving and Strengthening the U.S.-Mexico Relationship Report
Demonstrators carry Mexican and U.S. flags at the State Capitol in Little Rock, Arkansas, at a rally for comprehensive immigration reform, April 2006. ((AP/Danny Johnston))

Preserving and Strengthening the U.S.-Mexico Relationship

No country affects the United States more on a daily basis than Mexico; to advance core U.S. national interests, the bilateral relationship must be guided not by nativism and nationalism but by cooperation.

Dan Restrepo, Michael Werz, Joel Martinez

Obama’s Foreign Policy of Reconciliation In the News

Obama’s Foreign Policy of Reconciliation

Dan Restrepo and Michael Fuchs write about President Obama's successful use of reconciliation in foreign policy.

RealClearWorld

Dan Restrepo, Michael Fuchs

5 Big Ideas for U.S. Policy in the Americas Report

5 Big Ideas for U.S. Policy in the Americas

The next administration should advance U.S. economic and security interests by embracing the Americas, not by attempting to wall the United States off from its most important partners and neighbors.

Dan Restrepo, Michael Werz, Joel Martinez

The Surge of Unaccompanied Children from Central America Report

The Surge of Unaccompanied Children from Central America

The humanitarian situation on the U.S. southern border, created by a dramatic increase in children fleeing violence and poverty in their home countries, demands a range of sustainable interventions across northern Central America, as well as increased international assistance.

Dan Restrepo, Ann Garcia

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