However, this is what millions of people around the world suffer every day. Millions of refugees are driven from their homes and communities by armed conflict, gross human rights violations, and fear of persecution. They risk desert heat, defy the dangers of crossing borders, brave choppy seas and endure the squalor of refugee camps - all for the chance to live in freedom and peace. Jesus, who had nowhere to lay his head, calls us to respond. Refugees are people outside of the United States seeking protection from feared persecution in their homeland.
People apply for refugee status in refugee camps outside their home countries.
They attain refugee status by proving to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees that they have a well-founded fear of persecution because of their race, religion, national origin, political opinion, or their membership in a social group. If the INS accepts them, they are sent to the U.S. through national resettlement agencies such as Church World Service and Lutheran Immigration and Resettlement Service. Heartland Refugee Resettlement then works with Church World Service and Lutheran Immigration and Resettlement Service to resettle refugees in Nebraska. The United States only accepts a predetermined number of refugees each year. This number is set by the President of the United States and by Congress.