This ethnographic comparative case study documents the work of the refugee category in Quito, Ecuador. It examines "refugee" in relation to institutional power and details how different educational stakeholders, including young migrants, appropriate and relate to the refugee category. Situated in an urban context where those who have been forced to leave their country depend on the actions of state and humanitarian organizations to establish themselves, this article argues that the category of refugee is not a neutral one. Findings demonstrate a tension between a blurry and even inconsequential category within public education in contrast to a category that serves as a raison d'être within the humanitarian sector. By comparing multiple uses, this article calls on researchers to question how these categories circulate and what their effects are, rather than taking policy categories as given. It urges research that emphasizes the perspectives of migrant populations rather than those of policy makers.