The Welcome Corps program provides groups of at least five US citizens or permanent residents with the opportunity to support the settlement and integration of refugees into US society with their financial contribution. Sponsor groups must provide at least $2,275 to support each refugee.
The goal of the program is to find 10,000 U.S. civic sponsors for 5,000 refugees in fiscal year 2023, which ends September 30 of this year.
For the first six months of the new initiative, the State Department will connect sponsors with refugees whose cases have already been approved, and around the middle of the year, American sponsors will be able to leave the settlement process to the department.
Robert Lowe, a former immigration official for former President Donald Trump who now works for the pro-Trump First American Policy Institute, told Reuters that the legislature should ensure that refugees are vetted and that sponsors actually cover settlement costs.
As a prelude to announcing a sponsorship program similar to the model already in use in Canada, US President Joe Biden announced earlier this month that, to extend a measure introduced in the fall for Venezuelan nationals, the US will close its borders to illegal immigrants from Cuba, Haiti and Nicaragua with immediate effect, But it will guarantee legal entry. Meanwhile, for two years he has pledged to accept 30,000 people from affected countries per month — on the basis of an immigration amnesty that also applies to Afghans and Ukrainians.
The number of illegal immigrants who arrived in the United States in the fiscal year ending September 30, 2022 rose to another all-time high: for the first time, it passed two million. The authorities recorded 2.37 million illegal border crossings on the Mexican border. The majority of arrivals into the country have been admitted on an exemption basis – after registration – based on the applicable legislation.
Joe Biden capped the number of refugees to be admitted at 125,000 for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1 last year, but according to program data, only 6,750 arrived in the country between October and December.
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