WELCOME CORPS: President unveils new program to facilitate legal migration
The Biden Administration is set to launch a pilot program Thursday modeled after Canada’s Group of Five refugee sponsorship that allows American families to sponsor asylum-seeking migrants.
Groups of at least five persons based in the United States could be eligible to sponsor refugees by passing background checks, submitting a blueprint for how the group plans to assist the migrants, and raising less than $2,500 per sponsorship.
To qualify, Canada’s G5 program requires applicants for sponsorship to be “recognized by United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), or the government of the country (foreign state) where the refugee lives.”
Run by the State Department, the initial phase of the initiative will match potential sponsors with refugees who are still abroad but have been given the authorization to come to the United States.
The agency released a statement in December confirming the administration’s agenda.
“Later on, we will introduce an identification component through the pilot program through which private sponsors will be able to identify refugees overseas to be referred to the (U.S. refugee program) and apply to support their resettlement as private sponsors.” State Department.
The appropriately named Welcome Corps is an extension of the State Department’s 2021 Sponsor Circle for Afghans initiative which was implemented in partnership with the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisers, Inc. project, Community Sponsorship Hub (CSH).
“The program will enable groups of individuals to form sponsor circles to provide initial resettlement assistance to Afghans as they arrive and build new lives in local communities across the country,” Secretary of State Anthony Blinken wrote on the agency’s official website.
A year later, President Biden signed the Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year 2023.
Increasing the refugee limit to 125,000, the directive confirms the Biden Administration’s commitment to creating pathways to legal residency and strengthening the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) – which has resettled over 3.5 million asylum seekers.
“A private sponsorship pilot program will also expand opportunities for communities across the country to participate in welcoming the world’s most vulnerable to the United States,” the State Department wrote, “Recognizing and building on the enormous outpouring of interest we have seen from the American public in supporting our newest neighbors.”
Those approved as sponsors will help alleviate some of the burdens placed on resettlement agencies by assisting with access to housing medical services and other necessary resources like public and education assistance for those who qualify for up to three months.
Secretary Blinken called the program “the boldest innovation in refugee resettlement in four decades.”
“It is designed to strengthen and expand the capacity of the [U.S. refugee program] by harnessing the energy and talents of Americans from all walks of life desiring to serve as private sponsors — ranging from members of faith and civic groups, veterans, diaspora communities, businesses, colleges and universities, and more,” Blinken said.
The humanitarian shift in immigration policy during the Biden Administration is a far cry from those of the previous administration which focused more on cruelty and punishment than on preserving the dignity of those fleeing persecution and violence in their home countries.
While long-lasting, comprehensive, and sustainable immigration policies are still needed, President Biden’s latest actions are a step in the right direction.
Original reporting by Camilo Montoya-Galvez at CBS News.
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