Refugee resettlement in the US

Of the millions of people in the world displaced from their home due to conflict and persecution, a small fraction are resettled permanently to a third country each year. These are often those who have no hope of return to their home country and no option to integrate where they—despite sometimes having lived for years in refugee camps. Official resettlement as a refugee allows them simply to belong somewhere, to have a permanent place to start moving on with their lives with no more interruptions.  

Many modern countries participate in this world-wide system of offering a safe haven to fleeing families. But imagine being dropped in a place where you don’t speak the language, understand the culture, or have the network of resources or respect that you once held before.  For some refugees, it might be the first time they’ve had to deal with the idea of paying bills or working for money.  Others may be former professionals now forced to take on low-level janitorial and factory jobs.  Not only do refugees have to adjust to a new place and a new language, they must quickly adapt to a whole new way of life. This is why some kind of guiding help is needed.

Following an influx of refugees from Southeast Asia following the Vietnam War, the Jimmy Carter Administration decided to create a standardized system in America that would help new refugees to quickly learn and adjust to the new cultural and social context in which they found themselves. The Refugee Act of 1980 thus created the US Refugee Program, a public-private partnership in which non-profits took on responsibility to help meet the goals of resettlement on behalf of the government-funded program. The large organizations would establish affiliate offices throughout the country ready to help new arrivals all over.

These volunteer-driven, often faith-based agencies were assigned to offer orientation and practical aid to help refugee families in their first months of transition—supplying initial provisions and explanations of what to expect, connecting to resources and community and employment, problem-solving for individual difficulties. Volunteers played a role in this process as they offered daily interaction, friendship and encouragement. Depending on state and private resources, agencies would have ESL classes, special programs for youth, and other such services.

The United States soon became the world leader in this regard with a refugee program undiscriminating of race and economic status that had broad political support for nearly forty-five years. We were after all a country founded by those fleeing religious persecution and a beacon to many nations thereafter. The program eventually expanded to include asylees, special immigrants who had assisted US forces in the war on terror, victims of human trafficking, and many others.

Despite its value, all this help could only be offered for a limited time and refugees quickly had to begin to make a way of their own both socially and financially despite the unfamiliarity of their surroundings. The good news is that most refugees families were self-sufficient very quickly–often working, paying taxes, and handling their own bills within a six months of their arrival. After one year, they were able to make their stay more stable by registering as permanent residents of the United States. In five years, they had the opportunity to apply for American citizenship and contribute their piece of what truly makes America great.

Sadly, the US refugee program that had been a bipartisan staple for decades was turned into a campaign tool and political target with the arrival of the Trump administration in 2016. While his first term severely damaged the program, his second program finally destroyed it with the end of the Reception and Placement program in 2025. While the Refugee Act still exists on paper, its administrative structure has been dissolved, the access to programs that would help support refugee transitions removed, and even America’s openness to allowing refugees to enter the country was cut. A new program has now been cobbled together solely focused on letting white South Africans with no verifiable persecution in as ‘refugees’.