In the wake of over 80,000 Afghans arriving in the United States, refugee resettlement agencies were soon swamped, and are still struggling to rehire workers and restore offices after being decimated when the Trump administration lowered refugee admissions to a historic low.
Consequently, the U.S. State Department, in coordination with humanitarian groups, called on average citizens to help. Sponsor circles were formed by friends, family, neighbors, and communities of faith to aid newly arrived Afghans in their transition to their new homes.
By pooling their resources, they were able to help the newcomers find affordable housing, enroll their children in local schools, learn how to use banks, and find places where they could buy halal meat and pray.
Afresh 600 Afghans have been helped to start over thanks to the Sponsor Circle Program after the U.S. military's exit from Kabul last year. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a similar campaign was launched on their behalf.
The Biden administration is now looking for partners to conduct a pilot program by the end of 2022 that will turn the trial into a private-sponsorship program for refugees admitted via the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.
President Joe Biden, under mounting criticism, promised in a 2021 executive order to double the number of refugees resettled by Americans and restore the United States' status as a safe haven. The Trump administration severely cut back on the refugee program, which previously had contracted out the placement of migrants to nine different resettlement companies.
There is consensus among experts that the private sponsorship model has the potential to radically alter how refugees are resettled in the United States and keep the door open regardless of who is in office.
According to Sasha Chanoff, founder and CEO of RefugePoint, a Boston-based charity that helped kickstart the initiative, I think there is a real movement right now that is happening in terms of American towns and communities across the world who are raising their hands and saying 'We want to welcome in refugees.
This comes as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reports that for the first time ever, more than 100 million people have been compelled to escape their homes this year alone.
As an emergency step to speed up the relocation of Afghans, many of whom are currently languishing on U.S. bases, the Sponsor Circle Program for Afghans was devised, and its lessons will be included into the pilot program. A representative for the United States Department of State told the Associated Press via email that the pilot program would be unique because it would become an enduring element of U.S. refugee resettlement.
According to the spokesman, the pilot initiative will pair ordinary U.S. citizens with refugees overseas who have been granted entrance to the United States. Subsequently, the program will enable Americans to locate a refugee abroad and submit an application to have them resettled in the United States.
Canada's official government program has been supplemented by private support for decades.
Because the regular U.S. government refugee program has only admitted approximately 15,000 of the 125,000 cap Biden set for the budget year ending September 30th, Chanoff argued that the new model should be added to it. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the Biden administration has been slow to increase staffing levels and clear the massive backlog, according to activists.
These figures do not account for the nearly 180,000 Afghans and Ukrainians who entered the country with humanitarian parole, a short-term legal alternative that was meant to speed up their entry but left them with less government support.
Afghan families say that ordinary Americans stepped in to help.
Background checks, training, and a 3-month action plan were all required of participants in the Sponsor Circle Program for Afghans. Each organization was required to generate at least $2,275 per resettled individual, the same amount given to resettlement organizations by the United States government.
Mohammad Walizada, who escaped with his family from Kabul, stated that they settled into a furnished home in Epping, a community of roughly 7,000 people in New Hampshire, five days after he was linked to a sponsor circle with the Four Rivers Church there.
He also mentioned that his friends and family from Afghanistan had to wait months on U.S. bases before being placed by a resettlement organization. As a result of the state's high cost of living, many people found their way to California, where they stayed in hotels for an average of three months on government aid.
A car, ten months' worth of rent, and daily check-ins from a sponsor circle are just some of the perks he and his family enjoy. WelcomeNST, founded in 2021 to aid Americans in resettling Afghans and, more recently, Ukrainians, assigns a mentor to each group to serve as a coach. Slack channels are provided for groups, and a partnership with HIAS, a resettlement agency, puts them in touch with caseworkers if they have any questions.
There are almost sixty workers on the New Hampshire team, all working to aid folks like Walizada.
Walizada expressed, "I feel like I have a lot of family here now."
Experts agree that ordinary Americans have always helped resettle refugees, but that their efforts have never been coordinated on this scale.
The Biden administration's Uniting for Ukraine program, which grants Ukrainian refugees two years of temporary residency in the United States in exchange for financial support, received a similar outpouring of support. Through the end of August, nearly 117,000 applications had been submitted to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency within the Department of Homeland Security in charge of the program.
Wyoming is the only state that has never authorized an official refugee resettlement program, but that hasn't stopped hundreds of Americans from forming teams to resettle Ukrainians there nonetheless.
Casper's Highland Park Community Church pastor, Darren Adwalpalker, led the effort to sponsor three Ukrainians who moved to the city of 60,000 in June. We just wanted to be able to do something because we have such a lovely community here, he said.
Samaritan's Purse helped Adwalpalker financially.
Private sponsorship made it possible for a lot of these communities with amazing resources and generosity to accomplish this, said Krista Kartson, who oversees the organization's refugee programs.
The pastor claimed that his congregation housed the lone Ukrainian who remained in Casper for six months using funds of $3,000. Everything else, including gift cards to the grocery shop and furniture, was donated.
According to Adwalpalker, one of the things I've learnt is that the whole idea of a resettlement office isn't that significant if there are people eager to help on the ground.
Dentists are now repairing their teeth. Doctors are now treating them. Those who need assistance with their immigration paperwork can rely on the assistance of our legal staff.
Since Rudi Berkelhamer's grandparents had to flee attacks on Jews in the early 20th century in what is now Ukraine, the retired biology professor felt compelled to lend a hand.
By committing to HIAS for six months, she was matched with a sponsor circle in Irvine, California. In February, the circle members were matched with an Afghan family consisting of a young couple and their 3-year-old kid. They had one week to get to know each other and formulate a strategy before meeting their new Afghan family.
Berkelhamer delivered all of the household goods and helped the family get set up with electronics like computers and phones. Passes for the bus were provided for them by others.
The preceding is a summary of an article that originally appeared on Headline Wealth.
