The United States has seen record numbers of illegal immigrants crossing the southern border. There seems to be no end in sight and no solution to the overtaxed immigration system. Millions of migrants crossed the border in just one year, and that doesn’t count those that went undetected. But what about the refugees fleeing their native countries because their lives are in imminent danger? Well, a new program, called Welcome Corps, has a solution: Americans can sponsor a refugee in their own neighborhood.
American Citizens Sponsoring Refugees
“The Welcome Corps is a new service opportunity for Americans to welcome refugees seeking freedom and safety and, in turn, make a difference in their own communities,” states the website. The idea is for a group of five people to form a private sponsor group (PSG) and support a person to help through the process, which includes everything from welcoming the individual at the airport to finding them housing and a job. Although the commitment is supposed to be just 90 days, the organization suggests a much longer term if possible.
The State Department’s goal is to acquire 10,000 Americans to support 5,000 refugees. The private sponsor group would be required to raise the money for their individual or family as well. According to Welcome Corps plan, fundraising is a great way to get the minimum of $2,275 needed to help each traveler. During the first few months of the program, most of those seeking resettlement will be from Sub-Saharan Africa, “where they have been waiting for years for a durable solution,” the organization explained. Then, around the middle of this year, private sponsors will be able to request specific refugees they wish to help.
How do they choose the people for the program? The Welcome Corps promises that all refugees are thoroughly vetted before being approved for relocation. They will have to be deemed as legitimate migrants by the Department of Homeland Security’s US Citizenship and Immigration Services, and only those “who the U.S. government has approved for resettlement to the United States through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP)” make the cut. Plus, only the “applicants who are cleared through an extensive security vetting process, including vetting by U.S. government law enforcement and intelligence agencies, are approved for resettlement to the United States.” This includes a health screening as well.
(Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)
The PSGs will be responsible for a variety of duties, including “secure and furnish initial housing, provide for initial basic needs, and make connections to relevant services, such as health care, education, and employment services.” “A consortium of nonprofits with expertise in refugee resettlement will help oversee the vetting and certification of people and groups who want to be private sponsors,” AP News explained.
Of course, this isn’t the first program of its kind. There was the Sponsor Circle Program for Afghans created to help those fleeing after the disastrous withdrawal of troops in Afghanistan and another one for Ukrainians after the Russian invasion.
The need for these services has been placed solely on former President Donald Trump’s shoulders by the establishment media and others on the left because he reduced immigration, including the refugee programs. That neither the Afghanistan disaster nor the Russia-Ukraine war happened during his administration doesn’t appear to matter. Joe Biden promised to reverse the work of his predecessor and create more opportunities for those fleeing their dangerous countries, and the Welcome Corps is a direct response to that pledge. It was launched on January 19 by the US Department of State, in coordination with the US Department of Health and Human Services.
.jpg%20Iran&w=1920&q=75)
.jpg%20FCC&w=1920&q=75)
