Our Asks

In honor of World Refugee Day, we solemnly recognize the record breaking 100 million plus forcibly displaced people around the world today. We urge Congress to do their part in building humanitarian protection for refugees by taking the following steps:

• Support a Presidential Determination of at least 125,000 new refugees to the United States in 2023. Refugee admissions are part of a foreign policy strategy that makes our nation a world leader in standing for freedom and human rights. We must remain a beacon of hope for individuals and families seeking safety from persecution.
• Maintain stable domestic funding for the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) for refugees and other populations of concern in the U.S. Initial support enables refugees to build new lives and quickly contribute to our economy. The Matching Grant employment program shows 80% of clients become self-sufficient within 180 days of arrival.
• Maintain robust international funding for refugees and other forcibly displaced people and for countries that host them. Typically, less than 1% of refugees worldwide are resettled. Both support for the uprooted and the resettled are needed.

We ask the administration to do everything within its power to end the use of Title 42 and restore legal access to asylum procedures. Inhumane expulsions under Title 42 violate asylum seekers rights and have resulted in thousands of cases of rape, torture, violence, and kidnapping.

We ask everyone to take action on World Refugee Day, June 20. Share statements and stories of resettled refugees to your state and district. Advocate to better the lives of refugees and immigrants by contacting your representatives (here and here) and support USCRI’s latest advocacy issues: https://refugees.org/take-action/

A History of Support for Refugee Resettlement

As a cornerstone of America’s global humanitarian leadership for nearly four decades, the refugee program has resettled over 3.1 million refugees. In the last year, the United States welcomed over 76,000 Afghan refugees through Operation Allies Welcome and committed to welcoming 100,000 Ukrainian refugees under Uniting for Ukraine. Resettlement offers new life to vulnerable refugees living in untenable situations. Beyond its humanitarian impact, national security experts have repeatedly said that the program advances our national security interests because it supports our allies that are refugee host countries and reinforces stability and liberty around the world, thereby contributing to our safety, security, and diplomacy.

Once resettled, refugees build new lives while contributing greatly to our country, including to the economy of local communities. Getting a job, establishing self-sufficiency, and enrolling their children in school are among their first priorities after they arrive. Refugees give back to their new communities, pay taxes, and start new small businesses. Refugee resettlement is woven into the very fabric of the ideals that the United States was founded upon.