Since 1975, the U.S. has admitted more than 3.3 million refugees, an average of 80,000 per year. From 2012 to 2015, the U.S. admitted 70,000 refugees per year, and in 2016, in response to the global refugee crisis, the U.S. admitted 85,000 refugees. President Obama raised the ceiling to 110,000 in FY17 to respond to [...]
There are humanitarian and strategic reasons for the program, which the United States formally began in 1980. While not a stated purpose of the resettlement program, there are economic benefits to local communities that receive refugees. From 1980 until the election of Donald Trump, the U.S. led the world in formal refugee resettlement, accepting more [...]
IINE was resettling an average of 625 refugees each year prior to 2017. We experienced a reduction in refugee arrivals in 2017 and 2018, and an increase to 246 refugees in 2019. Refugees come to New England from many countries facing war and violence including Myanmar (Burma), the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Sudan and [...]
In our reception and placement program, our staff dedicates approximately 75 hours of case management time to each refugee. Services include welcoming each refugee family at either Manchester or Logan airport and escorting them to a furnished apartment we have provisioned with home goods, clothing and food. Within days of arrival, our staff helps [...]
It is important to understand nationwide, and at IINE, private support for refugees dwarfs public financing. Federal resettlement funds provide a one-time cash grant of $2,075 to resettlement organizations like the International Institute of New England to support each newly arrived refugee. The program allocates $1,125 directly to client expenses in order to cover rent, [...]
We have fewer refugees in resettlement services than prior to 2017, but we are serving more people. We have grown our legal services program, expanded skills training programs, and shifted to an economic model that is less dependent on public money. IINE remains in contact with nearly 7,000 refugees whom we have resettled in recent [...]
Since 9/11, the United States has had the most organized and carefully managed refugee admissions process in the world. After screening by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the U.S National Counterterrorism Center, the FBI Terrorist Screening Center, and the Departments of State, Defense, and Homeland Security vet all refugees seeking resettlement in [...]
No person accepted to the U.S. as a refugee, including from Syria, has been implicated in a fatal terrorist attack since the Refugee Resettlement Act of 1980 was enacted, according to an analysis by the Cato Institute.
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