Who is a refugee?
A refugee is a person who is unable or unwilling to return to his or her home country because of a “well-founded fear of persecution” due to race, membership in a particular social group, political opinion, religion, or national origin. This means that in order to be a refugee, you can’t just be in any type of danger—you must be in danger because of who you are.
Under President Carter, Congress passed the Refugee Act of 1980, which incorporated the U.N. Convention’s definition into U.S. law and provides the legal basis for today’s U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP).
(Source: American Immigration Council)
What is the difference between refugees, immigrants, and asylum seekers?
Refugees are a type of immigrant. An immigrant to thus US is a person who comes to live here permanently from another country.
Refugees go through a very rigorous, years-long process before ever stepping foot in the US (see below). They apply for and are granted refugee status outside the US, travel here at the invitation of the US government and have full legal status from the moment they arrive. They are the most closely vetted type of immigrant to the US.
Asylum-seekers are people who are fleeing the same sort of persecution as refugees but who apply for refugee status (or asylum) in the US or at the US border. This is also a legal process, but until the US government is able to review their case, asylum-seekers only have provisional legal status while they wait for their case to be decided. They may be granted asylum and invited to stay in the country as asylees (refugees) or they may be denied and told to go back home.
Why is refugee resettlement important?
It is a moral obligation: We are a nation of immigrants and refugees. Helping refugees who have fled their homes and are displaced in refugee camps with little or no food, health care, shelter or protection is the moral and ethical thing to do. We hope that someone would do the same for us if we were in their shoes.
Resettlement has major economic benefits: In 2018, President Trump commissioned a study of the cost of refugees to taxpayers and he found that on average, refugees each contribute $2,200 more to the tax base than they cost annually. That’s more than the average contribution of the US-born population, which is $1,800. In addition, refugees play an important role in our workforce, start and build businesses and pour $53 billion dollars into our economy annually!
Resettlement makes the US a global ally: Much of our continued success as a nation will rest on our ability to embrace those who come here seeking protection and better opportunities for themselves and their families. The U.S. is a global leader in programs that support immigration, refugee resettlement and asylee protection. Let us all continue to join forces in working to help improve these programs and maintain their integrity.
Migration has been a human need for all of human history and forced displacement due to persecution is not a new issue. As humans who believe in the dignity of all humans on earth, at Canopy we believe we have the responsibility to welcome and support fellow humans who have been forced out of their homes. We are grateful to live in a community that offers a warm welcome to new neighbors who have found themselves in need of refuge.
How many refugees are there and where are they coming from?
Photo provided by UNHCR
According to UNHCR, in 2022 there were an estimated 27.1 million refugees in the world.
The United States resettled around 30,000 refugees in FY2019 and a little over 12,000 in FY2020. Learn more about recent data here.
The majority of these refugees settled by the United States FY19 and FY20 are from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Who determines refugee admission to the United States?
Every year, immigration law requires that Executive Branch officials:
Review the refugee situation or emergency refugee situation.
Project the extent of possible participation of the U.S. in resettling refugees.
Discuss why the proposed admission of refugees is justified by humanitarian concerns or is within the national interest.
The Presidential Determination then establishes the admissions levels and regional allocations of all refugees for the upcoming fiscal year. In 2017, the Obama administration committed to accept 110,000 refugees. In 2020, President Trump set the Presidential Determination for refugees at a historical low of only 15,000 for the fiscal year 2021.
In any given year, the number the U.S. resettles is relatively small— roughly one-half of one percent of the world’s refugees. (UNHCR, 2019)
How do refugees get to Arkansas?
Refugees are screened more rigorously than any other group of people entering the United States. The basic process is as follows:
1. Flee their home country.
2. Register with the United Nations or the local government.
3. Interview with the United Nations.
4. Refugee status granted by the United Nations.
5. Referral for resettlement in the United States.
This entire process takes 17 years on average and less than 1 percent of refugees are ever resettled. Once a refugee is referred to the US, our screening process takes approximately 2 years and involves security checks by multiple US agencies, a thorough health screening and additional vetting for individuals from countries with special security concerns. Check out this detailed infographic to understand the entire process in detail!
For more details on this process, you can also check out:
After a refugee has been conditionally accepted for resettlement, the Refugee Processing Center works with private voluntary agencies, like our partner organization, Lutheran Immigrant and Refugee Services (LIRS), to determine where the refugee will live.
LIRS places the case at one of its many local resettlement sites after carefully considering all of the individual aspects of the arriving refugee and the community.
If LIRS decides that NWA is the best option for the refugee, Canopy ensures they have everything they need to successfully build a new life here.
Do refugees come here for a certain time limit?
Refugees are here permanently and are considered new Americans upon arrival. They can apply for permanent residency after a year and apply for citizenship after five years.
What about refugees taking jobs and draining local economies?
Refugees actually revitalize the U.S. economy! The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that since 2005, refugees have contributed $63 billion more in tax revenue than they cost in public benefits.
Refugees are more likely to be entrepreneurial and enjoy higher rates of successful business ventures compared to natives. At the local level, refugees provide increased demand for goods and services through their new purchasing power and can be particularly revitalizing in communities that otherwise have a declining population.
It is also worth noting that research has shown annual earnings growth among refugees living in the U.S. has outpaced pay increases among economic immigrants, or individuals who haven’t been displaced by disaster, persecution or violence.
How do refugees support themselves?
The same way we all do…they find jobs! Refugees have been helpful to our economy in recent years because they have taken jobs in industries that have had employee shortages. And, these industries were good placements for refugees because they required few English or technical skills.