The United States would Receive Up to 50,000 Refugees from Latin American and Caribbean Countries in 2024
The United States may receive up to 125,000 refugees in 2024 (fiscal year), including between 35,000 to 50,000 refugees from Latin American and Caribbean, President Joe Biden declared in a memo to the State Department.
In his note, Biden stated that this initiative “is justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest” and would include, among others, refugees from four specific areas: (1) Cuba, (2) El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, (3) Iraq, and (4) Eurasia, and the Baltics.
The nation would also work to grant asylum to, “in certain circumstances, persons identified by a United States Embassy in any location.”
In terms of regional numbers, the White House identified the following regional allocations:
- Africa: 30,000-50,000
- Latin America/Caribbean: 35,000-50,000
- Near East/South Asia: 30,000-45,000
- East Asia: 10,000-20,000
- Europe and Central Asia: 2,000-3,000
New Initiative Will Support Refugees Who Settle in the US
To broaden the options for refugees seeking asylum, the State Department early this year launched the Welcome Corps program, which invites US citizens to sponsor people who have received proper governmental allowances during their settlement in the country.
The United Nations explains that these people fleeing conflict or persecution “are defined and protected in international law, and must not be expelled or returned to situations where their life and freedom are at risk.”
As part of the Department of State, the Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) admits, assists or offers asylum to this vulnerable population in their resettlement in US territory. By extending an invitation to the national subjects, the government seeks to ensure stability in the long term while providing resources, acceptance, and empathy towards individuals who were expelled from their homes and forced to start a new life in a new land.
According to USRAP, there will be two stages to implement this initiative. In the first phase of the program, private sponsors will be contacted with refugees whose cases have already been approved for resettlement by the government. Afterward, those private sponsors will be able to identify refugees to refer them to USRAP for relocation purposes, and they will commit to supporting them.
Finally, during the first year of the Welcome Corps, the State Department aims to get 10,000 Americans to apply as private sponsors and, as a result, they would host at least 5,000 refugees.
(Photo Credit: Welcome Corps)
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