Reception and Placement of Refugees in the United States
Released: 2017-06-21T00:00:00

Introduction

The U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), which is managed by the Department of State (DOS), resettles refugees from around the world in the United States. Under U.S. law, a refugee is a person fleeing his or her country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Once a refugee case is approved for U.S. resettlement, the USRAP determines where in the country the refugee(s) will be resettled. This determination is made through DOS's Reception and Placement Program (R&P), which provides initial resettlement services to arriving refugees.

The placement of refugees, especially Syrians, in the United States has been highly controversial in recent years. Some states have attempted to stop the resettlement of Syrian refugees within their borders. In his March 6, 2017, executive order, "Protecting The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States," President Trump expressed support for greater state and local government involvement in the placement of refugees:

The Secretary of State shall examine existing law to determine the extent to which, consistent with applicable law, State and local jurisdictions may have greater involvement in the process of determining the placement or resettlement of refugees in their jurisdictions, and shall devise a proposal to lawfully promote such involvement.

Initial Resettlement Assistance

The Refugee Act of 1980 amended the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to establish a process for refugee admissions and authorize federal assistance to resettle refugees in the United States. The latter provisions established the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and authorized various forms of refugee resettlement assistance, including a program for initial resettlement of refugees in the United States. The Refugee Act gave the President the authority to determine whether this initial resettlement program should be administered by ORR or another office; DOS had previously been responsible for initial refugee resettlement. President Jimmy Carter subsequently determined that DOS should retain administration of this program, known as the Reception and Placement Program.

Each year, DOS's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) requests proposals from public and private nonprofit organizations that are interested in providing services and assistance to refugees under the R&P Program; PRM enters into a cooperative agreement with each successful applicant. The organizations, sometimes referred to as voluntary agencies, maintain nationwide networks of local affiliates to provide services to refugees. The services include pre-arrival services (e.g., placement); reception upon arrival in the United States; basic needs support (e.g., housing, furnishings, food, and clothing) for at least 30 days; and help accessing health, employment, education, and other services, as needed. The R&P Program primarily serves aliens who are admitted to the United States as refugees, but others, such as Iraqi and Afghan special immigrants, may also receive benefits.

Placement of Refugees

Decisions about which R&P agencies will resettle particular approved refugee cases are made at weekly meetings in which resettlement agency representatives review biographic and other information about incoming refugees. As part of the "sponsorship assurance" process, an agency agrees to assume responsibility for a refugee case and provide required R&P services.

A refugee with relatives or close friends in the United States will likely be resettled near them. "Otherwise, the resettlement agency that agrees to sponsor the case decides on the best match between a community's resources and the refugee's needs." With some exceptions, refugees with U.S. ties are placed within 100 miles of, and within the same state as, the local affiliate providing them with R&P services. Refugees without U.S. ties must be placed within 50 miles of, and within the same state as, their local affiliate.

As of May 31, 2017, in FY2017, refugee arrivals have been placed in the District of Columbia and every state except Wyoming. In FY2016, the only states with no refugee placements were Delaware and Hawaii. (See Appendix for refugee placement data for FY2011-FY2017.)

Regardless of their initial placement location, however, refugees in the United States are free to relocate. The movement from the placement location to another area is known as secondary migration.

Related Requirements

The INA provisions on refugee resettlement assistance set requirements for the R&P Program's placement process. Under these provisions, t he ORR director and the agency administering the R &P P rogram ( that is, PRM ) are directed to consult at least quarterly with state and local governments and nonprofit resettlement agencies about the intended distribution of refugees.

The ORR director is further tasked with developing and implementing, in consultation with the resettlement agencies and state and local governments, policies for the placement and resettlement of refugees in the United States. To the extent practicable, these policies are to

insure that an arriving refugee is not placed in an area that is highly impacted by refugees unless the new arrival has close family in the area; provide for local affiliates of resettlement agencies to meet at least quarterly with state and local governments to plan and coordinate the appropriate placement of arriving refugees in the states and localities; and consider the proportion of refugees in the local population; the availability of employment, affordable housing, and other resources for refugees in the area; the likelihood of refugees becoming self-sufficient; and the likely secondary migration of refugees to and from the area.

In addition, the agency administering the R&P Program is directed to consider the recommendations of a state in determining where to place refugees within that state.

As part of PRM's annual R&P Program request for proposals, each current R&P agency and new applicant is required to provide data and narrative information about the agency and its affiliates. The FY2017 R&P request for proposals included the following criteria for evaluating the placement portion of the proposals:

Documented local affiliate ability to provide quality, language-appropriate reception and placement services for arriving refugees of diverse backgrounds. Explanation of how the applicant will respond to an increased or decreased resettlement need while ensuring the required level of service to all refugees. Evidence of community support for local affiliates and for the refugee program. Documented contributions of significant private resources to the R&P Program at the local level.

Additional documentation is required when an applicant is proposing to establish a new resettlement site:

Prior to proposing a new site, applicants must consult with stakeholders in the proposed new site. The rationale should document all such community consultations, including what topics were discussed, who was consulted, when meetings were held, and the outcome of the discussions. Participation shall include, at minimum, representation from the following offices: state refugee coordinator; state refugee health coordinator; local governance (city and/or county, as applicable); local and/or county public health, welfare, and social services; and public education. In these consultations, applicants shall discuss the size and scope of the proposed program, and the participant stakeholders' abilities to adequately receive and serve the proposed caseload.

Remote Placement

Under the R&P Program, as noted, initial resettlement services are provided to newly arriving refugees by a local affiliate of one of the participating resettlement agencies. Thus, as a general matter, refugees are not resettled in states that do not have any local affiliates or in parts of states that do not have local affiliates within an allowable distance (see " Placement of Refugees "). Special arrangements, however, may be made by the R&P Program in cases in which an arriving refugee has family or close friends who live more than 100 miles from the nearest R&P affiliate within the same state. In these cases, known as remote placement cases, the R&P Program can arrange for a social service agency or other organization located in the general area where the family or friends live to assist in providing R&P services to the refugee. As of the date of this report, two states—Wyoming and Mississippi—have no local affiliates, but refugees can still be resettled in these states through the remote placement process.

Funding

The resettlement agencies participating in the R&P Program provide initial resettlement services using a combination of R&P Program funds and contributions from other sources. Table 1 shows obligated funds for the Reception and Placement Program since FY2011. This funding includes a per refugee grant, which is provided to the local affiliate resettling the refugee. For FY2017, the per-refugee grant is $2,075. Of this total, $1,125 must be used for direct support of refugees and $950 is available to the local affiliate to spend on its staff and infrastructure .

Appendix. Refugee Placement by State

This table shows the number of refugee arrivals that were initially placed in each state, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico during fiscal years 2011 through 2017 (as of May 31, 2017). It does not show the total refugee population in each state in each year. The total for each column represents the total number of refugee admissions to the United States in the corresponding year.