It’s official: US residents can now sponsor refugees. Here’s how.

From California to Connecticut, Americans have welcomed thousands of recent arrivals seeking refuge over the past two years. Building on sponsorship models for Afghans, Ukrainians, and Venezuelans, the Biden administration last month launched an initiative called Welcome Corps. 

The State Department announced the new program on Jan. 19 as the “boldest innovation in refugee resettlement in four decades.” Implemented by a consortium of six organizations, groups of volunteer “sponsors” will offer short-term financial and logistical help to refugees beginning to rebuild their lives.

Welcome Corps is “hearkening back to the historic roots of our refugee resettlement approaches in the United States, and tapping into the generosity of everyday Americans,” Julieta Valls Noyes, assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, tells the Monitor. 

Refugee advocates see several gains ahead, including enhanced local support for new arrivals and more ways for the receiving communities to engage. During some 15 years of refugee resettlement work, Kit Taintor says she’s seen more people desire to help refugees than there are opportunities. 

“What Welcome Corps really allows us to do is to capitalize on that interest, that compassion, and that humanitarianism in real ways,” says Ms. Taintor, vice president of policy and practice at Welcome.US, a member of the Welcome Corps consortium. 

In its first year, Welcome Corps aims to recruit at least 10,000 private sponsors to assist at least 5,000 refugees, who could begin arriving as soon as April. 

How does this compare with typical resettlement?

Refugees have been persecuted or fear persecution based on race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. They are approved for resettlement by the U.S. before they enter the country. (Asylum-seekers, by contrast, may apply for asylum once they arrive.) 

Since the passage of the Refugee Act of 1980, the U.S. has primarily resettled refugees through a network of nonprofit resettlement agencies. But resettlement has historically involved some level of collaboration between the government, resettlement organizations, and private individuals. 

On the heels of World War II, the U.S. “often prioritized for admission those who had family or friends in the United States, or a faith community willing to support them, because that made them less likely to become a public charge and more likely to assimilate quickly,” writes Maria Cristina Garcia, professor of history at Cornell University, in an email. 

Today, refugees are referred to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program through designated entities like the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees or U.S. embassies. By mid-2023, Welcome Corps sponsors themselves may be able to identify refugees for referral, with the goal of eventually supporting those refugees stateside. The State Department says it sought advice from Canada, which, like Australia, has its own private sponsorship system.

What is driving this change?

Welcome Corps is meant to “strengthen and expand” the country’s capacity for resettlement, according to the State Department, after a downsizing of the refugee program under former President Donald Trump and pandemic challenges. Assistant Secretary Noyes says the initiative is part of the administration’s broader “modernization agenda” in refugee resettlement, which includes increasing admissions and processing cases faster.

The reforms come as President Joe Biden has set the refugee admissions “ceiling” at 125,000 for the second fiscal year in a row. That’s double the limit he set in his first year in office, and well above the historic low of 15,000 admissions originally set for 2021 by Mr. Trump near the end of his term.

The current ceiling “was an ambitious goal, with the recognition right at the outset that we wouldn’t be able to achieve it right away,” says Assistant Secretary Noyes. “[President Biden] wanted to set a standard both in order to give us something to work toward, but also to show U.S. humanitarian leadership to other countries around the world and to sort of inspire them to have similar levels of ambition.” 

Yet the U.S. has typically admitted fewer refugees than the cap allows, including the last fiscal year when 25,465 out of 125,000 available spots were filled. Within the first three months of fiscal year 2023, which began in October, 6,750 refugees were admitted. 

But support for the new program is strong. YouGov polling found that most Americans – 3 out of 5 – support Welcome Corps, though it’s more favored by Democrats (76%) than Republicans (53%) and independents (51%). More than 20,000 people signed up for email updates in the first week of the launch, with more than 11,000 registrations for information sessions.

Based on observations that people’s direct interactions with refugees can generate empathy for them, Welcome Corps is “good for garnering political support for refugee resettlement,” says Hans Van de Weerd, senior vice president of resettlement, asylum, and integration at the International Rescue Committee, a resettlement agency and Welcome Corps member. 

What does sponsorship involve? 

Interested American citizens and permanent residents will need to form groups of at least five adults (older than 18), complete training, pass a background check, create a “welcome plan,” and raise at least $2,275 per refugee. Each approved “private sponsor group” will commit to aiding a refugee for at least 90 days, such as picking them up at the airport and helping secure housing and jobs. The goal is to give refugees a jump-start toward self-reliance, says Assistant Secretary Noyes, rather than “create this situation of dependency in perpetuity.”

Oversight of sponsors will include mandatory reporting to a partner organization, according to the Community Sponsorship Hub, which is leading the program in partnership with the State Department. All refugees will receive information about their rights and responsibilities, along with how they can report any concerns, says Community Sponsorship Hub Executive Director Sarah Krause.  

Others note that while private sponsors may excel at tasks like amassing donations, resettlement work is challenging, and can include connecting refugees with trauma-
informed care. 

“We just hope that the program is implemented thoughtfully to make sure that the sponsors themselves are prepared for what is really a weighty commitment,” says Timothy Young, director of public relations at Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. He says his resettlement agency is not a member of Welcome Corps but supports it. 

Ideally, volunteers in private sponsor groups will represent a range of skills or expertise, says Mr. Van de Weerd of the International Rescue Committee. “If they bring their heart ... that’s the starting point.”