Every day Americans will be allowed to assist refugees in adjusting to life in the United States as part of a program developed by the State Department to offer private citizens a role in resettling the thousands of refugees who arrive each year.
The State Department planned to announce the Welcome Corps initiative on Thursday. During the first year of the program, the agency hopes to recruit 10,000 Americans to assist 5,000 refugees.
“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,” according to the announcement.
The State Department has traditionally collaborated with charitable organizations that specialize in refugee issues to assist refugees from all over the world
The State Department has traditionally collaborated with charitable organizations that specialize in refugee issues to assist refugees from all over the world when they first arrive in the country and are confronted with a drastically different way of life. Under the initiative, five or more Americans would be able to establish a group and fill this job as well.
They would seek to privately sponsor refugees for resettlement in the United States and would be responsible for generating their own funds to assist the refugees during their first 90 days in the country. Everything from locating a place to live to enroll children in school would be covered.
A group of charities with experience in refugee resettlement will help oversee the screening and accreditation of individuals and organizations interested in becoming private sponsors. They will also provide training so that private sponsors learn what is required to assist refugees in transitioning to life in America. The consortium will be in charge of overseeing the program.
According to the State Department, the new program will be implemented in two stages. In the first phase, private sponsors will be linked with refugees who have already been authorized for resettlement under the United States Refugee Assistance Program. This will begin in the early half of 2023.
In the second phase of the program, private sponsors would be able to identify refugees in other countries who they would like to aid, refer them to the Refugee Assistance Program, and assist them once they arrived in the United States.
Welcome Corps program follows an initiative in which Americans might fund Afghans or Ukrainians fleeing their homeland
The Welcome Corps program follows a similar, smaller-scale initiative in which Americans might fund Afghans or Ukrainians fleeing their homeland. This initiative, which began in October 2021, has assisted over 800 persons who have come to America through a network of 230 certified sponsors.
In a 2021 executive order, President Joe Biden pledged to restore the United States as the world’s safe haven and advocated for private sponsorship of refugees. The previous administration, led by President Donald Trump, significantly reduced the refugee program.