Church World Service
New asylum policies after Title 42 ‘don’t address root cause,’ say faith-based groups
By Emily McFarlan Miller — May 23, 2023
(RNS) — New policies that took effect last week are exacerbating the strain on many shelters on the southern side of the United States-Mexico border.
Faith-based refugee resettlement agencies denounce new asylum rule
By Yonat Shimron and Alejandra Molina — May 11, 2023
(RNS) — The new rule, which goes into effect May 16, rejects asylum claims for most people who cross the border but do not first seek asylum in Mexico.
Polish Catholic community houses Ukrainian refugees as US agencies urge action
By Emily McFarlan Miller — March 23, 2022
(RNS) — Agency leaders are applauding news the U.S. is expected to welcome up to 10,000 Ukrainians.
This is an all-hands-on-deck moment for refugee resettlement in this country
By Mark Hetfield, Richard L. Santos, and Krish O’Mara Vignarajah — December 9, 2021
(RNS) — Refugee resettlement has always been a public-private partnership, relying on the generosity of American communities who come together and welcome newcomers.
Faith-based agencies celebrate ‘return to moral leadership’ as Biden raises refugee ceiling to 125,000
By Emily McFarlan Miller — September 21, 2021
(RNS) — Even as they praised the higher refugee ceiling, the groups also asked Congress to commit to rebuilding and fully funding the U.S. refugee resettlement program so it could reach that number.
How to help Afghans arriving in the US after fleeing the Taliban
By Emily McFarlan Miller — August 25, 2021
(RNS) — Here are a few of the faith-based organizations working with Afghans both overseas and arriving in the U.S. and some ways you can help them.
Refugee aid groups criticize Biden for stumbles in evacuating ‘desperate’ Afghans
By Emily McFarlan Miller and Jack Jenkins — August 16, 2021
(RNS) — Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, head of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, described President Biden's claim that Afghans did not want to leave the country as 'misleading at best.'
Last North Carolina immigrant to take sanctuary at a church goes home
By Yonat Shimron — April 19, 2021
(RNS) — Juana Luz Tobar Ortega was the first person to seek church sanctuary in North Carolina in 2017 and she is the last to leave.
Biden reverses course on refugee cap after faith groups express outrage
By Jack Jenkins and Emily McFarlan Miller — April 16, 2021
WASHINGTON (RNS) — "As a Christian, I’m reminded I should never have, as the psalmist said, put my ‘trust in princes,’" said Matthew Soerens, U.S. director of church mobilization and advocacy at the evangelical Christian refugee resettlement agency World Relief.
Canceled flights, expired clearances: US refugee resettlement in limbo awaiting promised changes
By Emily McFarlan Miller — April 8, 2021
(RNS) — In March alone, more than 700 refugees who were scheduled to arrive in the United States had their flights canceled, according to Refugee Council USA.
Another NC man is free to leave church sanctuary as immigration policies ease
By Yonat Shimron — March 24, 2021
(RNS) — Eliseo Jimenez, a 42-year-old itinerant laborer who worked in the state’s tobacco fields and later in construction laying floors, has been living at Umstead Park United Church of Christ since Oct. 9, 2017.
As Biden floats immigration plan, Edith Espinal leaves 3-year stint in sanctuary
By Yonat Shimron — February 18, 2021
(RNS) — The 43-year-old Mexican native was allowed to go home on the same day President Joe Biden unveiled his immigration overhaul to Congress.
Faith-based refugee resettlement groups describe what it will take to rebuild program after Trump cuts
By Emily McFarlan Miller and Jack Jenkins — February 5, 2021
(RNS) — Biden's executive order may be raising the number of refugees allowed into the U.S. from 15,000 to 125,000, but the work needed to rebuild the gutted resettlement apparatus have many admitting it’s unlikely the United States will reach that target anytime soon.
Court blocks Trump executive order allowing state and local officials to refuse refugees
By Emily McFarlan Miller — January 8, 2021
(RNS) — President-elect Joe Biden, who takes office in less than two weeks, has expressed support for rebuilding the U.S. refugee program.
Faith-based organizations express outrage over plan to cut refugee admissions to historic low — again
By Emily McFarlan Miller — October 1, 2020
(RNS) — In recent weeks, several faith-based organizations involved in refugee resettlement had asked the Trump administration to raise that number to its historic average: 95,000.
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