Bishops like new refugee numbers

This week, the chairman of the US Conference of Catholic Bishop’s Committee on Migration commended the Biden administration for increasing the number of refugees that will be allowed into the United States.
 
Bishop Mario E. Dorsonville issued a statement that said, in part, “The last few years have had a devastating impact on refugee resettlement, all while we witness the greatest forced migration crises in decades. We commend the Administration for seeking to reassert American leadership in this area, and we look forward to continued action in support of this goal. We also urge Congress to provide the resources necessary to not only rebuild the Refugee Admissions Program but sustain it for the next four decades and beyond.”
 
Last week, the Administration announced a Fiscal Year 2022 Presidential Determination (PD) of 125,000 refugees for resettlement through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP). According to a release from the USCCB, “This is the highest PD since 1993 and follows four consecutive years of historic lows. During the previous fiscal year, which ended on September 30, the U.S. resettled only 11,411 refugees out of a possible 62,500, the lowest number in the program’s history.”
 
The USRAP was created in 1980, and it has received strong bipartisan support ever since. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is one of nine national resettlement agencies that partners with the U.S. government in this effort. 
 
The USCCB noted that the Catholic Church’s involvement in refugee resettlement stems from the Church’s social teaching on the common good and is consistent with its longstanding role in welcoming newcomers and supporting integration. “In a special way, we as Catholics are called to this ministry of welcome and encounter, through which we express the fullness of the Church’s universality. The bishops of the United States pledge our continued commitment to this work, and we praise the many Catholic organizations, communities, and persons dedicated to what Pope Francis has referred to as ‘a new “frontier” for mission, a privileged opportunity to proclaim Jesus Christ and the Gospel message at home, and to bear concrete witness to the Christian faith in a spirit of charity.’” 
 
 

Limits on refugee admissions

America’s bishops have issued a statement in response to the announcement last week that the Biden Administration will not increase the historically low number of refugees who can be resettled in the United States for the current fiscal year. While making that announcement, the Administration also said that it will restore the long-time practice of allocating refugees from every region of the world, thus opening resettlement to some who were not included in the more restricted categories of the previous Administration. 

Bishop Mario E. Dorsonville, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, expressed disappointment that the refugee admissions number for the fiscal year will continue to be at a historic low but he also expressed appreciation that a number of persecuted refugee families who could not previously travel will finally be permitted resettlement in the United States.

His statement is available here.

Syrian Refugee Crisis

Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Albany has a website devoted to providing information about the Syrian refugees and the European migrant crisis. They explain that the situation is not new.

For more than four years, Catholic Relief Services and its local partners have been working to assist more than 600,000 Syrian and Iraqi refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and northern Iraq. They are also working in the transit countries of Greece, Macedonia, Serbia and Albania, where resources to help the migrants are limited. In response to the Holy Father’s call to help resettle migrants in Europe, we are working with Caritas Germany to resettle refugees by providing accommodations, job assistance, early-integration activities and volunteer training.

Many people have asked what their parishes can do to help refugees being resettled in America. Currently the U.S. is accepting very few Syrians. Catholic Relief Services and the US Conference of Catholic Bishops are working together on advocacy opportunities to expand U.S. policy on accepting refugees from Syria and Iraq, provide more U.S. funding to refugees in neighboring countries, and exercise leadership for diplomatic efforts to end the fighting.

Catholics are urged to contact President Obama and their members of Congress today and urge them to lead the world in a coordinated response to save the lives of refugees. The United States must do its part to resettle many more Syrian refugees here, and provide more humanitarian and development assistance to refugees in the Middle East who hope to return home or to remain in the region. Finally, our nation should lead a concerted diplomatic effort to finally end the fighting in Syria so that refugees can return to their homeland in safety.

The Catholic Charities’ website also has links to background information about the situation as well as things that we can do now.

Day 4 – Immigration Q & A

Today we look at some of the basics of immigration such as:

Who is an immigrant?
According to U.S. law, an immigrant is a foreign-born individual who has been admitted to reside permanently in the United States as a Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR).

Who is a refugee?
A refugee is a person outside of the United States who seeks protection on the grounds that he or she fears persecution in his or her homeland. To obtain refugee status, a person must prove that he or she has a "wellfounded fear of persecution" on the basis of at least one of five specifically-enumerated and internationally recognized grounds.

What public benefits do immigrants and refugees receive?
Most benefits programs are open only to long-term, lawful immigrants. A small number of programs (such as school lunch programs and emergency medical services) are open to all people in need.

Longer answers to these and other questions can be found at
http://www.justiceforimmigrants.org/immigration-basics.shtml

World Refugee Day Statement

The Catholic Church in the United States represents the largest private refugee resettlement organization in the world, helping refugees of all religious traditions. For World Refugee Day, the bishops issued a statement that reads, in part:

Today, many nationalities are among the world’s refugee population because of unrest and violence in their homelands—Congolese fleeing their war-torn nation;Rohingya Burmese fleeing persecution from their government; Colombians fleeing guerilla groups; Iraqisfleeing war and an unstable security environment in their homeland; and now Syrians fleeing internal strife.The global community, including the United States, must continue to respond to their dire conditions.  

Another refugee crisis is emerging—Syrians fleeing turmoil and violence.The countries of Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey are to be commended for receiving these refugees.I urge the United States and the world community to assist them.We pray that the fighting in Syria ends.  

My brother bishops and I remain troubled by the plight of Iraqis who have fled their country because of religious persecution, and urge our government to assist the Iraqi government in protecting them and other Iraqis who live in fear of persecution.  

The Catholic Church in the United States does respond to the plight of the world’s refugees, in answer to the call of the Gospel to welcome the stranger.Migration and Refugee Services of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, assisted by diocesan Catholic Charities offices around the nation, resettles as many as 20,000 refugees a year in the United States.The Catholic Church in the United States, through these agencies, represents the largest private refugee resettlement organization in the world.Catholic Relief Services (CRS) provides support to refugee populations overseas.We help refugees of all religious traditions.  

I urge the U.S. government to continue to work with us to assist refugees.In the last two years, we have witnessed a decrease in the number of refugees being served by our U.S. refugee program.This is in part because of additional security processes, but also because of a lack of political will.As a result, Iraqis already accepted for the U.S. program—women and children particularly—and other at-risk populations remain in danger.  

. . .  

In the face of the refugee, we see the face of Christ.As we celebrate World Refugee Day, let us continue to welcome the refugee into our hearts and homes.

The rest of the statement is here.

Have fun helping refugees

Join adults and youth from throughout the diocese as they raise funds for the Catholic Charities Refugee Resettlement Program.

Catholic Charities Refugee Resettlement Program and St. Pius X are sponsoring Hubbard’s Hoopla on Saturday, March 20th at 6:30 p.m. at Catholic Central High School in Troy.

Adults coached by Bishop Howard Hubbard will take on youth from throughout the diocese. There also will be games and activities for all during breaks in the action and halftime. Concessions will be available.

$5 per person

$20 per family (4 or more)

To sign players up contact Brian Evers spxyouth@hotmail.com

Iraqi refugees

The Evangelist has a nice article about some of the 27 Iraqi refugees who have settled in the Albany diocese "through a U.S. State Department program that is administered here and in other regions by Catholic Charities and other groups." And how are the refugees doing?

“Our neighborhood is so friendly; you didn’t see that in Egypt or Iraq,” said Zaid.

“In Iraq, you were afraid to do anything or talk to anyone on the street,” added Ali. “You don’t know if they’re trying to kill you. It’s not like that at all here. They will say ‘hi’ or ‘good morning’ all the time. They may be little things to them, but they’re big to us.”

Of course, that's not the whole story, which you can read here.