The U.S. is copying Canada’s private refugee sponsorship program, even as groups here pull out

The U.S. launched a private refugee sponsorship program closely modeled on Canada’s, though the program in that country has faced criticism for delays and cumbersome bureaucracy.

The new program, called Welcome Corps, was announced by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken last month. He said he would “use the generosity and kindness of the American people” who are willing to meet the financial and logistical needs of settling newcomers to the community.

One lawyer south of the border hopes it will help boost resettlement efforts, after targets were significantly reduced during the tenure of former US president Donald Trump.

“The refugee resettlement system was destroyed in the previous administration, so we’re trying to rebuild it,” said Mark Hetfield, president and CEO of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), a nonprofit refugee resettlement program in Silver. Spring, Md.

“Private sponsorship is one way to increase our capacity,” he said Now Matt Galloway.

Former US president Donald Trump set the cap on accepting refugees for 40 years below 15,000 for the 2021 fiscal year, citing pandemic concerns. When he took office, US President Joe Biden revised the target to 62,500. His government aims to resettle 125,000 refugees by 2023 – although more than 25,000 are resettled from the same target in 2022.

The Welcome Corps program runs alongside government-funded programs to resettle refugees. The goal is to start resettling refugees in April, and hope to recruit 10,000 Americans to sponsor at least 5,000 refugees in the first year. It stipulates that sponsors raise at least $2,275 US, and practices for 90 days of guidance, with the aim of connecting refugees to local organizations that can offer support beyond that.

It is closely modeled on an initiative started in Canada in 1979, to facilitate the arrival of Vietnamese refugees. According to figures from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), the program brought more than 327,000 refugees to Canada between 1979 and 2020; using a model that has been imitated by countries in the world.

In a statement to the Canadian Press, US assistant secretary of state for population, refugees and migration Julieta Valls Noyes said the US “thanks the Canadian government for sharing details about the program,” and appreciates “Canada’s support for allowing us to learn from the program.” .”

‘We’re definitely the envy of Canada’

Brian Dyck has advised several US organizations that want to participate in the new program, help to look at the Canadian model as a starting point.

“What we did in the beginning was look at material that had been developed in Canada and just adapt it a little bit,” said Dyck, the national migration and resettlement program coordinator for the Mennonite Central Committee of Canada.

Dyck said the Canadian program plays a special role in the wider refugee resettlement system, and has proven an effective tool when a particular refugee crisis draws public attention, such as in Syria, Afghanistan or Ukraine. It can also be useful in efforts to reunite families, in cases where refugees have settled in Canada but their loved ones are still moving elsewhere, he said.

Private sponsorship “allows more players to participate, and it really strengthens, I think, the whole system,” he said.

Hetfield said his organization, HIAS, is currently limited to resettling refugees with 25 specific family service agencies throughout the US, but Welcome Corps will allow it to work with any group willing and able to provide resettlement support.

“We certainly envy Canada for having this alternative way of welcoming refugees…

He thinks U.S. organizations can learn from the Canadian model, especially to ensure that appropriate boundaries are set, and that sponsors facilitate “independence and self-reliance,” he said.

Canada’s program is tied in red tape: senators

Ratna Omidvar, an independent senator for Ontario who has been involved in helping refugees for years, said it was a “real relief” to see the US re-engaging in resettlement efforts.

But he points out that the Canadian program requires a higher fundraising amount, and a commitment of at least one year from sponsors.

“I think the ambition and the scope and the scale are different, but I’m going to look forward and say it’s the right step,” he said.

Omidvar was part of a group of 17 people who sponsored 12 Syrian families to come to Canada in 2016. The families have since found jobs, bought their own homes, and all have become Canadian citizens, he said.

But despite success stories like this, Omidvar said the Canadian program has become “too clumsy” and tied up with red tape.

“There is a very long wait between seeking asylum, applying, and waiting for approval to travel,” he said.

Interest in the Canadian program has grown in recent years, driven by the desire to help refugees flee conflicts like the Syrian civil war. As a result, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) introduced new rules, including checks and balances to ensure sponsor groups meet the needs of new arrivals.

But the changes caused some organizations to withdraw from the sponsorship program, citing time constraints and complicated additional paperwork.

IRCC has also faced criticism for limited accommodation and long processing times, especially in cases of reuniting families. In a statement to the CBC last month, IRCC blamed the delay on demand being higher than available space.

A new type of nation building

Omidvar said he understands the need for transparency, accountability and risk assessment in the resettlement process – but he thinks some protocols have become “impenetrable” barriers.

“If there is one hope I have, it is that we start taking a look at what should be, and what can be used at discretion; and what should be put aside completely,” he said.

Despite the delay, Omidvar considers Canada’s private sponsorship program an important focal point for how Canadians come together, “with all our differences, with all our diversity.”

“It creates the glue that brings emotional distance between people, not just refugees and sponsors, but sponsors and sponsors,” he said.

“I think this has become a new way, a new approach to nation building.”