Private Citizens Can Now Play A Role in Refugee Resettlement in the U.S.
On January 19, 2023, the U.S. State Department launched a new program that will allow U.S. citizens, green-card holders, and private organizations to sponsor refugees seeking resettlement in the United States.[1] In an area that is fraught with debate and congressional inaction, the Welcome Corps Program is the “boldest innovation in refugee settlement in four decades,”[2] according to U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.
The Refugee Act of 1980 created a uniform and comprehensive program for refugee admissions and resettlement in the United States.[3] As defined by the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), a refugee is a person who is unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin “because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.”[4]
The Executive Branch and the Congress work together to form refugee policy. At the beginning of each fiscal year, the President establishes the refugee ceiling after “appropriate consultation”[5] with Congress. This ceiling determines the maximum number of refugees that the U.S. will admit the following year. During the Trump administration, the refugee ceiling was set at 15,000–the lowest level since the inception of the refugee program in 1980.[6] In 2021, President Biden raised the ceiling to 62,500, although only 11,454 refugees were actually admitted.[7] The ceiling for 2023 is set at 125,000.[8]
Welcome Corps allows refugees to resettle in the U.S. without having personal relations with U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents.[9] Groups of no fewer than five U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents may form a Private Sponsor Group (PSG) to sponsor a refugee applicant. They must raise at least $2,275 per applicant.[10] Then, after being matched with a refugee, the PSG is responsible for securing and preparing initial housing, greeting the refugee at the airport, enrolling children in school, and helping adults find employment.[11] Additional responsibilities might include connecting refugees with community services such as transportation and healthcare providers.[12]
State Department officials say they hope the program will bolster public support for refugee resettlement.[13] The program aims to mobilize at least ten-thousand Americans in the first year to sponsor the resettlement of five-thousand refugees in their communities.[14] The administration hopes the program will eventually become an enduring feature of U.S. refugee policy. “By launching the Welcome Corps, we build on a proud tradition of providing refuge and demonstrate the spirit and generosity of the American people as we commit to welcoming refugees in need of our support,” says Blinken.[15]
The reception of Welcome Corps has been largely supportive with many NGOs voicing their approval. The President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee, David Miliband, stated, “the launch of the Welcome Corps is a much needed pathway to help additional people find safety through the American spirit of welcome.”[16] Since the launch of the program, more than 100,000 people have visited the Welcome Corps website, and over 10,000 people have signed up for more information.[17] By mid-2023, the State Department hopes to allow private citizens to identify and refer refugees for consideration to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.[18]
The policy comes at a time when the Biden administration is facing political pressure and critiques from both Republicans and Democrats regarding immigration policy. Like his predecessors, Biden has relied on unilateral executive action to push forward policies on immigration. “From January 20, 2021 through January 19, 2023, the Biden administration took 403 immigration actions, according to calculations by the Migration Policy Institute (MPR), putting it on track to soon overtake the 472 immigration-related executive actions MPI counted for all four years of the Trump administration.”[19] Biden has also expanded Trump-era border policies such as Title 42 in the wake of an increase in border crossings.[20]
By enabling citizens to play a role in the country’s refugee program, Welcome Corps also places burdens on those citizens. Furthermore, Welcome Corps may be a beneficial program for the refugee population, but it falls short of making the U.S. a global leader in refugee policy. The world is facing unprecedented levels of forced displacement caused, in part, by the war in Ukraine and economic and political instability in Venezuela and Afghanistan. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), there are 32.5 million refugees worldwide, and 36% of them are hosted by just five countries: Turkey, Colombia, Germany, Pakistan, and Uganda.[21] For the U.S. to become a global leader in refugee policy, the Executive Branch and Congress must work together to truly change refugee policy to make all refugees feel welcome in the U.S.
Martha O’Brien is a staff member of Fordham International Law Journal Volume XLVI.
[1] See Miriam Jordan, Biden Administration Invites Ordinary Americans to Help Settle Refugees, N.Y. Times (Jan. 19, 2023), https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/19/us/refugee-resettlement-policy-biden.html?action=click&pgtype=Article&state=default&module=styln-us-immigration&variant=show®ion=MAIN_CONTENT_1&block=storyline_top_links_recirc&login=smartlock&auth=login-smartlock.
[2] Press Release from Anthony J. Blinken, Sec’y of State, U.S. Dep’t. of State, Launch of the Welcome Corps - Private Sponsorship of Refugees (Jan. 19, 2023), https://www.state.gov/launch-of-the-welcome-corps-private-sponsorship-of-refugees/.
[3] See U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, U.S. Dep’t of State: Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, https://www.state.gov/refugee-admissions/.
[4] INA, 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42)(A).
[5] INA, 8 U.S.C. § 1157(a)(2).
[6] See Ryan Baugh, Refugees and Asylees: 2021 Annual Flow Report, U.S. Dep’t of Homeland Sec. (Sept. 2022), https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2022-10/2022_0920_plcy_refugees_and_asylees_fy2021.pdf.
[7] See Id.
[8] Press Release from Anthony J. Blinken, Sec’y of State, U.S. Dep’t. of State, The Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year 2023 (Sept. 27, 2022), https://www.state.gov/the-presidential-determination-on-refugee-admissions-for-fiscal-year-2023/.
[9] See Jordan, supra note 1.
[10] See Frequently Asked Questions, Welcome Corps, https://welcomecorps.org/resources/faqs/.
[11] See Id.
[12] See Jordan, supra note 1.
[13] See Id.
[14] See Id.
[15] Blinken, supra note 2.
[16] Press Release from Intl. Rescue Comm., IRC supports launch of Welcome Corps, new U.S. private sponsorship program (Jan. 19, 2023), https://www.rescue.org/press-release/irc-supports-launch-welcome-corps-new-us-private-sponsorship-program.
[17] Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, The White House (Press Briefing) (Jan. 23, 2023), https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2023/01/23/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-karine-jean-pierre-and-secretary-of-energy-jennifer-granholm-2/.
[18] Id.
[19] See Muzaffar Chishti & Kathleen Bush-Joseph, Biden at the Two-Year Mark: Significant Immigration Actions Eclipsed by Record Border Numbers, Migration Pol’y Inst. (Jan. 26, 2023). https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/biden-two-years-immigration-record.
[20] See Id.
[21] See Refugee Data Finder, UNHCR (Oct. 27, 2022), https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics/.
This is a student blog post and in no way represents the views of the Fordham International Law Journal.