The International Institute of Lowell has supported various migration crises throughout its history. During World War II, it offered Red Cross training and immigration assistance. After the war, it resettled refugees from Europe and the Soviet Union. The 1953 Refugee Relief Act increased arrivals from China and Eastern Asia, followed by efforts for those fleeing the Azores and Cuba in the 1960s. In the late 20th century, it welcomed refugees from Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, the Balkans, Central America, and Asia, as well as newcomers from Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Syria, and Iraq. In 2011, it merged with the institutes of Manchester and Boston to form the International Institute of New England.