The Americans are launching a new program to welcome refugees.
Thursday, Washington announced the creation of a new device, which must encourage every American to sponsor, in order to increase the extremely low number of admissions in the country.
For the first time, an American citizen will be able to directly sponsor the reception of a refugee in the United States without going through an association or NGOs.
"The Welcome Corps represents the greatest innovation in welcoming refugees in the past four decades," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
The United States is launching the Welcome Corps, the boldest innovation in refugee resettlement in four decades.
This initiative enables Americans to directly support refugees and show the best of American hospitality and generosity.
#JoinTheWelcomeCorps pic.twitter.com/MFp3lO1fQN
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) January 19, 2023
In the first year, the goal is to mobilize up to 10,000 Americans to host approximately 5,000 refugees.
Any American wishing to sponsor a refugee will have to pass extensive security checks and provide proof of their funding capabilities.
No financial incentive is foreseen for these sponsors who will have to demonstrate that they have at their disposal 2,275 dollars per refugee for three months for the purchase of clothes and other basic necessities.
A program inspired by Canada
President Joe Biden has set the number of refugees the United States is allowed to take in each fiscal year (October through October) at 125,000, breaking with cuts made by former President Donald Trump.
But the United States is far from the mark.
In the first three months of fiscal year 2023, only 6,750 refugees were admitted to settle in the United States, a country built on immigration, according to State Department figures.
The pilot project open to refugees "from all over the world" is inspired by similar programs in Canada and expands those already set up on a temporary basis for Afghan, Ukrainian, Venezuelan, Nicaraguan and even Cuban refugees, said a senior diplomat under covered with anonymity.
"The difference here is that the program will apply to refugees from all countries in the world and is aimed at their permanent settlement in the United States," said the official.
Refugee associations and various NGOs have welcomed the initiative, they who have for years criticized the extremely low number of refugees admitted each year, citing in particular administrative delays.
"The Biden administration needs to streamline the refugee admissions process and make it a priority, as the number of admissions remains regrettably very low this fiscal year," said Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, who runs the NGO Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service.
NEW: The Biden admin just announced the Welcome Corps, allowing Americans to privately sponsor refugees & offer resettlement assistance to newly arrived families.
This is a forward-thinking approach to leveraging the generosity of the American spirit.
1/https://t.co/Hb9IT05tkv pic.twitter.com/tAO7LQBwaI
— Krish O'Mara Vignarajah (@KrishVignarajah) January 19, 2023
The number of refugees and internally displaced people in the world has continued to increase, to cross the 100 million mark in mid-2022, according to the UN.