New Program Enlists Americans to House Refugees as Refugee Admissions Remain Low
The Biden Administration is launching a pilot program that will allow Americans to welcome and support refugees entering the country. The new initiative, entitled the Welcome Corps, will allow private citizens to welcome refugees approved for resettlement through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP). This comes as the Biden Administration falls well short of its refugee admission goals.
The Welcome Corps is a collaboration between the State Department and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The State Department says it’s the “boldest innovation in refugee settlement in four decades. “
“This program invites Americans to be partners and guides to refugees as they build new lives in the United States and help them realize their full potential,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a statement.
Traditionally, the government relied on non-profit groups to help refugees settle into life in the U.S. Under the new program, American citizens and permanent residents can take on that task by forming Private Sponsor Groups (PSGs).
Groups must have a minimum of five people who live in the same area and must demonstrate they can provide welcoming services to refugees for the first 90 days of their arrival. Welcoming services consist of greeting the refugee at the airport, finding and furnishing shelter, providing for basic needs, and making connections for the refugee’s health care, education, and employment needs.
At least one member of the PSG must complete a training program. The PSG must also raise at least $2,275 per refugee being welcomed.
The private sponsors will be matched with refugees already approved for resettlement. The program is scheduled to start later this year, with the earliest arrivals possibly coming in April. Most initial refugees welcomed under the program are expected to be from Sub-Saharan Africa.
A planned second phase of the program is planned that will involve private sponsors identifying refugees they want to sponsor who are still abroad. That will also start in mid-2023.
The goal is to mobilize 10,000 Americans as private sponsors and to welcome at least 5,000 refugees in the first year of the program.
President Biden pledged to welcome 125,000 refugees into the country annually in fiscal years 2022 and 2023, but has so far fallen well short.
In fiscal year 2022, just 25,000 refugees were resettled. In the first three months of the current fiscal year, less than 7,000 have been resettled.
Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service President and CEO Krish O’Mara Vignarajah called the Welcome Corps “forward-thinking” but stated, “The Biden administration must prioritize the streamlining of refugee admissions, which remain regrettably low this fiscal year. Without urgent action to increase efficiency, it risks letting the compassion of individual sponsors and the expertise of professional resettlement organizations go to waste.”
The Welcome Corps was created after the State Department ran a smaller program involving the resettlement of displaced Ukrainians, Afghans, and others. In that program, 230 certified sponsor circles helped just over 800 people come to the U.S. One key difference is that refugees resettling through the Welcome Corps will receive permanent legal residence and a path to U.S. citizenship. Canada also has a similar refugee welcoming program.