Welcome Corps presents opportunity for Southeast Missouri hospitality to shine

Watching refugee caps over the last several years has been depressing. After a steady decline through the 2000s, America lowered the limit of refugees admitted from 85,000 in 2016 to only 18,000 in 2020. I was brought up to believe compassion, justice, and diversity were part of the American identity, so watching this felt like a betrayal.

Watching people flee Afghanistan and Ukraine made it worse, as well as learning about two years of wartime atrocities in Ethiopia. (Why that hasn’t gotten the same media attention is an entirely different discussion.)

The bar was raised to 62,500 and then 125,000 in the following years, but the number of refugees admitted was only around 25,500 last year — still pretty dismal. But this week something has me excited: the Welcome Corps.

According to the official website: “Through the Welcome Corps, Americans work in groups of at least five to welcome refugee newcomers by securing and preparing initial housing, greeting refugee newcomers at the airport, enrolling children in school, and helping adults to find employment.”

The status quo has been partnerships between the U.S. government and nonprofit resettlement agencies to get refugees and their families to settle in America. According to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, “the Welcome Corps...will enable Americans to sponsor refugees arriving through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), directly support their resettlement, and make a difference by welcoming these new neighbors into their communities.”

The program functions around Private Sponsor Groups. These are groups of at least five adults who live in the same community — clubs, civic groups, religious congregations, and more all qualify. PSGs raise funds and welcome refugees into their communities. Sponsorship will require $2,275 in cash and in-kind contributions per refugee, which provides housing and other basic needs until they secure employment. PSGs walk alongside families for the first 90 days in their new community, then continue being good neighbors by helping refugees make connections to local organizations for ongoing support and services. The Welcome Corps is set to give out tools, training, resources, fundraising support, an arrival checklist, and ongoing guidance to PSGs.

According to Blinken, the Welcome Corps’ one-year minimum goal is 10,000 Americans sponsoring 5,000 refugees. Poplar Bluff welcomed me with open arms in 2021. I bet we can share that hospitality again.

More info can be found at welcomecorps.org.

Samantha Tucker is the assistant editor of the Daily American Republic.