This month the Biden administration proposed a new organization, Welcome Corps, to persuade private citizens to directly sponsor refugees looking to resettle in the United States from around the world. This program is the biggest shift in the U.S. programs for displaced individuals since the Office of Refugee Resettlement’s launch in 1980.

If a refugee is sponsored, citizens will be responsible for the refugee logistically and financially. Groups of at least five people willing to sponsor a refugee family must raise over $2,000 to support each refugee during their first three months in the country.

 American hosts receive training, regular monitoring from the Welcome Corps and check-in meetings with refugee groups. Senior State Department officials described the importance of programs like these in a special briefing earlier this January.

“As Americans come together to provide a warm welcome to refugees, they will not only make a difference in the lives of the refugees they support; they will also help enrich and strengthen their own communities in the process,” state department officials said.

The State Department has worked with nonprofit groups that specialize in refugee issues to help people from around the world when they first arrive in the U.S. The agency aims to line up 10,000 Americans who can help 5,000 refugees during the first year of the program.

The new initiative will roll out in two phases. Under the first phase, private sponsors will be matched with refugees already approved for resettlement under the U.S. Refugee Assistance Program, starting in April 2023. In the second phase of the program, private sponsors would be able to identify refugees abroad that they would like to help. They then refer those people to the Refugee Assistance Program and assist them once they arrive in the U.S. 

This program aims to better the lives of so many looking for a safe haven in America. The Welcome Corps program will give refugees a new chance at life and American citizens the unique chance to connect with individuals from around the world.