1. Immigration and Refugee Program
What is Refuge Resettlement?

2. Mission: end hunger, promote peace and justice
Founded in 1946
Mission: end hunger, promote peace and justice
Supported by 37 member communions
Program areas: food, water, assisting refugees and the vulnerable
Active in more than 30 countries
Support our office at cwsharrisonburg.org
Founded in 1946, the Church World Service mission is to end hunger and poverty and to promote peace and justice.
Supported by 37 U.S. based member communions, CWS provides programs that feed the hungry, provide clean water, reduce vulnerability and help those forced from home.
With more than 1,000 employees in across five global regions, CWS operates programs in more than 30 countries.
cwsglobal.org

3. Refugees then and now So what is a refugee?
What is the difference between a refugee and an immigrant?
What makes people leave their homes?
What is Refugee Resettlement?

4. US context 2017 40 million foreign born residents
3 million came as refugees
13 % of population but 16 % of work force
Start 28% of new business
Founded 40 % of Fortune 500 companies

5. Reasons refugees leave their place
Natural causes: famine, lack of food etc
Human causes: War, violence etc
These go back to Genesis, the human story

6. Its an old story!
Modern nation states have borders, immigration laws, passports, security issues
Modern states have complicated policies, laws bureaucracy etc
Modern States also invade, besiege, kill, maim and drive people into exile.
There are more displaced people in the world today than at any time since WW II.

7. Refugee Resettlement in 2017
A snapshot of how refugees come to arrive in Harrisonburg and what services the Church World Service Refugee Resettlement Office offers them…
Prepare for acronyms! It’s a whole new language out there… UNHCR for instance
Its not easy to be a refugee! A refugee would love to have our problems!

8. How many Refugees? UNHCR about 22 million now
Total 3rd country resettlement about 100,000/year
Only about 12 countries resettle refugees
US about 50,000 or 60,000 in 2017

9. What is a Refugee?
UNHCR 1951 definition: “owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country”

10. Refugees and Immigrants
Refugees are processed outside the country
Asylees are processed inside the country
Parolees are processed at the border.
These are immigrant visas

11. More immigration law
Non immigrant employment visas 221,000+/year, divided into categories
Immigrant employment 140,000/year, divided into categories
Diversity visas, 50,000/year

12. UNHCR Facts and Refugee case processing :
20 million + refugees in UNHCR
Identify refugees for resettlement and refer to US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, UK, Netherlands, France a few other countries.
Submit all US referrals to the Refugee Coordinator (housed at US Embassy) for approval.

13. What is the process? How does a refugee get here? Steps in the process
Flee country of persecution
Register with UNHCR
Referral for resettlement to a 3rd country
Register/processing with Refugee Service Center
Pass all the screenings and checks

14. UNHCR
Getting in the gate
Is first step

15. Initial registration
Initial Waiting area with cafeteria

16. RSC Africa ( CWS contractor)
Refugee Support Center RSC
Provides processing in 44 countries in
sub Saharan Africa
Staff of 300+
Responsible for preparing cases files.
to present to USCIS (DHS) for adjudication
About 12,000 refugees cases processed per year.

17. Pre-screening Interviews
Referrals received from UNHCR, Embassy and NGO’s.
“circuit rides”. take physical file and mobile office equipment to 44 African countries.
Three interviews: 3 consecutive days
8+ different screening checks
Prepare the file for the US Department of State officers for final interviews.

18. Prescreening Interviews

19. Medical Screening

20. Cultural Orientation

21. Security Screening
FBI, CIA, DHS, DOS all do background checks for identity, group affiliation.

22. Cultural Orientation

23. More Cultural Orientation

24. Welcome to America!

25. What we do in Harrisonburg
Safe sanitary housing, furnishings, food
Health Screening
Social Security number
School/ELT
Employment

26. Some difficult things in the US
Language/Culture
Transportation system
How to get a job
Health care system
How money works, CC, banks, bills
Child and family culture differences
Religious differences

27. Key goals of our program
Self sufficiency
Community Integration

28. Refugees bring strengths
Resiliency
Willingness to learn/try new things
Energy!
Solid skills
Responsible

29. Local partners Public Schools: Orientation, ELT
Businesses who hire refugees
Landlords willing to rent to refugees
Churches to sponsor/befriend refugees
Universities and students

30. Current Context New Presidential EO Stops Syrian entries for 4 months
Bans refugees from 6 countries
Stops all refugee entry for 4 months
Requires the DHS to do a study of the refugee process from each country
Establishes multiagency coordination of refugee vetting
Limits refugee entry to 50,000 for 2017

31. More current context
State and local jurisdictions be granted a role in the process of determining the placement or settlement in their jurisdictions of aliens eligible to be admitted to the United States as refugees.

32. Current context
Local offices are laying off staff as arrivals stop or greatly diminish.
2015 arrivals 70,000
2016 arrivals 85,000
2017 arrivals 115,000 now 50,000

33. Some Facts about refugees
Q... Aren’t most refugees unemployed?
Fact… More refugee men are employed than US born peers.
Q… Can refugees really make it?
Fact… After 10 years the median income of refugees is 87% of US born peers.

34. More facts
Q… Isn’t the US refugee program just a conduit for terrorists?
Fact…DHS, CIA, FBI, DoS all intensively screen for terrorist associations…almost 1 million refugees resettled in the US since 9/11only three arrested on terrorism charges.

35. And more facts Q…Does the Government pay for all this?
Fact… It’s a public/private partnership, 9 agencies like CWS who resettle refugees…
Q… Aren’t refugees just uneducated???
Fact… 75% have HS degrees, 28 % have university degrees
Q… Don’t refugees hate the US?
Fact… Refugees usually become citizens, have strong families, low crime rates, high employment.

36. Questions???