Seventeen-year-old Zainab Walizada whose family escaped from Afghanistan washes dishes at their home in New Hampshire, Image: Reuters.
A new program announced in the U.S. on Thursday will allow groups of Americans to directly sponsor refugees who want to resettle in the U.S.
The U.S. State Department program, which will be known as the Welcome Corps, is part of a wider effort by the President Joe Biden administration, to provide opportunities for Americans to support foreigners seeking protection.
It is expected to increase the admission of refugees into America and reduce government costs, Reuters reports.
Under the scheme, sponsor groups of at least five persons are expected to raise a minimum of $2,275 per sponsored refugee.
The sponsor groups, open to U.S. citizens or permanent residents are required to pass background checks and create a support plan.
According to the State Department, the program will be looking to find 10,000 U.S. sponsors for 5,000 refugees in the fiscal year 2023, which ends on Sept. 30.
The individual sponsorship program for refugees is similar to a model used in Canada.
Refugees, often from conflict zones will go through a long application process from abroad, before they can enter.
The program is not likely to have any immediate impact on the record number of illegal migrants trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken described the sponsorship program as "the boldest innovation in refugee resettlement" since the beginning of the U.S. program in 1980, in a statement on the program launch.
Blinken said the sponsorship opportunities could inspire a cross-section of Americans, including "members of faith and civic groups, veterans, diaspora communities, businesses, colleges and universities, and more," to support the scheme.
Three-year-old Hasnet Walizada whose family escaped from Afghanistan watches videos on a mobile phone. Image: Reuters.
U.S State Department stated that
in the first six months of the new scheme, the department will connect sponsors with refugees whose cases are already approved,
However, U.S. sponsors will be allowed to refer refugee cases to the department for possible resettlement at some point in mid-2023.
Robert Law, a former Trump immigration official now with the America First Policy Institute, said Congress should ensure refugees are adequately vetted and that sponsors are covering costs.
"Privatization of refugee resettlement in theory takes U.S. taxpayers off the hook," he said. "But proper guardrails are needed to ensure sponsors are thoroughly vetted and have sufficient means to financially support the refugee," he said.
Sasha Chanoff, the founder of RefugePoint, which identifies people in need of resettlement, said the sponsorship program could be one of the most important developments for the U.S. refugee program since its introduction in 1980.
"It invites Americans to get involved in new ways," said Chanoff.
Earlier this month, the Biden administration launched a humanitarian entry program that allows up to 30,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to enter per month via "parole" if they have U.S. sponsors and travel by air.
The administration also admitted Afghans and Ukrainians through parole and introduced sponsor programs to support them in the United States.
The Welcome Corps program will bring in refugees through the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program, which accepts referrals from the United Nations and U.S. embassies.
The Biden administration set a limit of 125,000 refugee admissions for this fiscal year, which started on Oct. 1, 2022, but program data show that only 6,750 arrived from October through December.
Under former President Donald Trump, the United States drastically cut back on the admission of refugees as they were viewed as a security threat by the administration.
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