The Biden administration this week announced a groundbreaking initiative that will allow everyday Americans to financially sponsor refugees seeking safety in America. While previous private sponsorship efforts by the Biden administration have been more geographically limited, this new Welcome Corps initiative opens up sponsorship opportunities to refugees from all over the world. So it’s no exaggeration at all when officials call it the “boldest innovation in refugee resettlement” in decades.
The initiative mirrors a Canadian model that’s long been supported by refugee advocates within the United States, and who have said that communities across the nation have been ready and willing to aid in refugee resettlement.
RELATED STORY: Biden admin announces program allowing private individuals to sponsor Afghan refugees
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Under the initiative, groups of at least five U.S. citizens or permanent residents can apply to financially sponsor refugees, and would be expected to help provide certain essential services. That would including helping families find housing, employment, as well as enrollment in school. CBS News said that private sponsors will be expected to raise at least $2,275 per refugee, and must pass background checks.
The State Department said that the first phase of the Welcome Corps initiative will focus on matching refugees who’ve already been approved (under an oftentimes arduous process) with private sponsors. The department said it’s seeking to connect at least 5,000 refugees with 10,000 private sponsors in the first year of the program. “If more than 10,000 individual Americans join the Welcome Corps in 2023, we will seek to pair additional private sponsors with refugees in need of a warm welcome,” the department said.
Previous efforts by the Biden administration have allowed private citizens to sponsor Afghan refugees. Following Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, the administration created another private sponsorship program for refugees fleeing the region. It’s been hugely successful, with nearly 125,000 Americans applying under Uniting for Ukraine as of last fall. Since then, the administration has also opened up private sponsorship opportunities for Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan migrants.
“Over the past year, the American people have extended an extraordinarily welcoming hand to our Afghan allies, Ukrainians displaced by war, and Venezuelans and others fleeing violence and oppression,” the department said. “The Welcome Corps will build on Americans’ generosity of spirit by creating a durable program for Americans in communities across the country to privately sponsor refugees from around the world.”
The announcement has received one of the most positive receptions of any of the Biden administration’s immigration-related policies yet. More than 200 organizations and counting have expressed their support for the initiative, calling it the “newest massive innovation in the refugee resettlement system.” The International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), one of the more than 200 organizations, worked with private partners on how the administration could roll out such a policy.
“IRAP celebrates today’s announcement as a concrete step towards not just rebuilding, but also innovating U.S. refugee resettlement to increase capacity and impact,” said Elizabeth Foydel, IRAP private sponsorship program director. “Communities around the United States want to support refugees, and the Welcome Corps will get them directly involved in the resettlement process.” For more information on the Welcome Corps initiative, including weekly informational meetings and how to get involved, click here.
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