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The US launches a new program that allows citizens to sponsor refugees around the world

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  • The US government launches a new program for refugees.
  • Citizens will be able to sponsor refugees around the world.
  • Welcome Corps is expected to expand in the coming months.

The US launches a new program allowing citizens to sponsor refugees. The US government launched a program Thursday that gives ordinary citizens the chance to participate in helping to resettle the thousands of refugees who arrive each year. During the first year of the Welcome Corps program, the State Department aims to recruit 10,000 Americans who can help 5,000 refugees adjust to life in the United States.

«By tapping into the goodwill of American communities, the Welcome Corps will expand our country’s capacity to provide a warm welcome to higher numbers of refugees,» the agency said when announcing the program. Those who come to the United States from different parts of the world face a completely different way of life.

US Citizens will be able to help refugees

US program to sponsor refugees
Photo: Twitter

To ease the transition, the State Department has traditionally worked with nonprofit groups that specialize in refugee matters. With the new program, five or more Americans could form a group and help fill that same role.

The citizens would have to apply to privately sponsor the refugees for resettlement in the country, and would be responsible for raising their own funds to help them through the first 90 days. Their assistance would range from receiving refugees at the airport to helping them find a place to live and enrolling children in schools, according to the AP.

US launches new program to sponsor refugees

US program to sponsor refugees
Photo: Twitter

A consortium of nonprofit organizations with experience in refugee resettlement would help oversee the background checks and certification of individuals and groups who want to become private sponsors. It will also offer training so private sponsors understand what it takes to help refugees adjust to life in the United States.

The consortium will be responsible for monitoring the program. The program will be launched in two phases. First, private sponsors will be assigned to refugees who have already received approval from the Federal Refugee Assistance Program for resettlement. That will begin during the first half of 2023, The Associated Press reported. Filed Under: Welcome Corps

The program is different from a recent initiative

US program to sponsor refugees
Photo: Twitter

Subsequently, private sponsors will be able to identify refugees abroad that they would like to help and refer them to the Federal Refugee Assistance Program, then provide support once they arrive in the country. The program is different from a recent initiative that allows 30,000 people from Nicaragua, Cuba, Haiti and Venezuela to enter the country.

According to the AP, they also require a sponsor, but are allowed entry thanks to a two-year humanitarian parole designation that offers resources to obtain permanent residence or naturalization. Under the refugee program, people fleeing violence and persecution can come to the United States and stay permanently.

The United States has received just over 3 million refugees since the law was passed in 1980

The United States has received just over 3 million refugees since the law was passed in 1980.
Photo: Twitter

The United States has taken in just over 3 million refugees since the Refugee Act was passed in 1980. The Welcome Corps program was unveiled shortly after a similar, smaller-scale effort under which Americans could sponsor citizens from Afghanistan or Ukraine.

That program launched in October 2021 and has helped just over 800 people reach the United States through a network of 230 circles of certified sponsors that included a total of about 5,000 people, the AP detailed.

Joe Biden vowed to restore America’s place as the world’s haven

Joe Biden promised to restore the place for immigrants
Photo: AP

“This represents perhaps a unique opportunity in our history — certainly in our recent history — to really open up space for Americans to protect lives by sponsoring a family,” said Sasha Chanoff, founder and chief executive of Boston-based RefugePoint, which supports Afghan refugees. “We’ve seen the incredible interest among the American public — Republicans, Democrats, liberals, conservatives, veterans, so many others across the political spectrum.”

With an executive order in 2021, President Biden promised to restore America’s place as the world’s haven and called for private sponsorship of refugees. During the administration of his predecessor Donald Trump, the country took a step back in terms of the refugee program, he explained.

The number of refugees in the US is expected to increase in the coming months

The number is expected to increase in the coming months.
Photo: AP

Thursday’s announcement comes as the United States is a long way from meeting Biden’s goal of welcoming 125,000 refugees into the country in fiscal year 2023. Just 6,750 refugees have been admitted since December, according to State Department data.

Undersecretary of State Julieta Valles Noyes told reporters on Thursday that the agency responsible for interviewing refugees abroad has conducted more than 20,000 interviews in the first quarter of the year and that she was «confident» that the number would increase in the coming months. Filed Under: US Program to Sponsor Refugees

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