Posts by worldrelief
Jenny Yang, World Relief VP of Policy & Advocacy on Refugee Resettlement
So how does this refugee thing work, exactly? In light of the worst refugee crisis since WWII, Canon & Culture welcomes Jenny Yang, World Relief VP of Policy and Advocacy to find out. Jenny provides a thorough view of the refugee process from the point of original displacement to several months beyond initial resettlement.
Who is a refugee and what do they go through to get to the U.S.?
A refugee is someone who has fled one’s home country and cannot return because of a well-founded fear of persecution based on religion, race, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group.
Check out this infographic to learn the steps refugees must go through when immigrating to the United States. Then, learn more about the ways we currently serve refugees in the U.S.
U.S REFUGEE SCREENING PROCESS INFOGRAPHIC
World Relief provides initial resettlement and placement as well as employment, education and legal services for refugees arriving in the United States. Collaborating with local churches and volunteers, World Relief comes alongside vulnerable families as they begin their lives in the U.S. Since 1979, World Relief has helped resettle more than 260,000 refugees from over 80 nations.
Acceptance. Friendship. Hope: Good Neighbor Teams go beyond supplying material needs to refugees
World Relief currently provides refugees with resettlement assistance that includes housing, employment services, micro-enterprise loans and immigration services. But we cannot do it alone. We depend heavily on volunteer and church support, both financially and in practical ways. Churches and small groups around the country are mobilizing into Good Neighbor Teams to serve newly arriving refugee families for a period of six to 12 months—supplying material needs like food, clothing, and transportation, and tangible services like school registration, community orientation, job preparation and English tutoring.
Good Neighbor Teams also recognize the importance of offering even greater gifts to refugee families. By valuing the stories, dreams and contributions of the newcomers, churches and small groups are extending the gifts of friendship, belonging, and acceptance to those who are entering an unfamiliar world.
Life Center North Church in Spokane recognized its vision and mission fit seamlessly into World Relief’s mission to empower the local Church to serve the most vulnerable. The church’s leadership trusted God to catalyze missionally-minded people from among its 1,100-member congregation to form an initial World Relief Good Neighbor Team.
The team, comprised of people of different ages and stages of life, came alongside recent refugees to Spokane, including the 11-member Muslim family from Somalia. Lead Pastor Mark Mead, who led the initial team, said, “We are connected to a mission beyond ourselves as we obey the Great Commission.” He expected the team would be a blessing to refugee families, but he wasn’t expecting the blessings that came to him and his church as a result of serving. In the next year, the church hopes to form six to ten more Good Neighbor Teams.
“We share the mission of Jesus and that is what attracts people to our group,” says Pastor Mead. “Thank you, World Relief for helping mobilize the local church to what moves the heart of God.”
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Webinar on The Church and the Refugee | Refugee Crisis
Learn from Gabe Lyons (Q Ideas) as he speaks with Rich Stearns (World Vision U.S., CEO), and Stephan Bauman (World Relief, CEO) about how the church must play a key role in engaging in the current Middle East refugee crisis. This webinar explores core issues behind the headlines surrounding the U.S. refugee program and potential security concerns, and provides perspectives on and presents a clear call to the Church to raise its voice as one this Christmas.
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The hallmark of our country is to welcome the persecuted
Jenny Yang, Vice President of Advocacy and Policy at World Relief, joined Suzanne Meridien of Syrian American Council on Hashtag VOA (Voice of America) earlier today to bring clarity on how the Paris Attacks have created an uncertain future for Syrian Refugees in the United States and what we, as Americans and Christians, can do to welcome refugees.“One of the hallmarks of our country is actually to welcome the persecuted.” – Jenny Yang
View the full interview below:
A Christian Conversation about Refugees | Refugee Crisis
Like a tsunami, waves of terror from the Paris attacks are crashing upon American shores. Valid questions pour in about the U.S. refugee resettlement screening process. Securing personal safety – in the face of sometimes overwhelming fear – drives these understandable questions. Answers are not difficult to come by; but not every answer is actually grounded in the facts. Ideological agendas have seeded an answer-seeking rumor mill that spreads myths-as-fact via social media. As Charles Spurgeon quipped, “A lie can travel halfway around the world, while the truth is still putting on its boots.”
Church leaders like Leith Anderson, President of the National Association of Evangelicals, have called for reasonable security combined with Christian compassion, “Of course we want to keep terrorists out of our country, but let’s not punish the victims of ISIS for the sins of ISIS.” “It is completely right to ensure that the United States have a strong process to discern who are truly refugees and who are trying to take advantage of refugees,” says Russell Moore of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, but “we cannot love our neighbors at the same we’re standing aside and watching them be slaughtered.”
Screening out terrorists is imperative and is the responsibility of our country’s national security agencies. That said…as Christians, what is our unique responsibility as followers of Jesus in all of this? What should we be most concerned about – should it be our safety?
Let’s take a step back. What if we moved from a security-centered refugee conversation to a Jesus-centered refugee conversation? It might look like exploring the Scriptures surfaced in Relevant Magazine’s article, “What the Bible Says about How to Treat Refugees.” It might also look like Christians in the West learning from Christians in the majority world who face terror and persecution daily as explained in the Christianity Today article, “Terrorists are Now the Persecuted Church’s Greatest Threat.” It might look like Christians asking the question, “What is God up to?” like the Desiring God blog that sees a sovereign God purposefully bringing the nations (rather than fear) to our shores.
A Jesus-centered refugee conversation might cause us to remember that we are in fact following a Middle Eastern Refugee Savior whose family fled a genocide to Egypt. We might remember that our biblical identity as “strangers and aliens” because our identity is first found as citizens of the Kingdom of God.
And as we move from conversation to action, how might we respond? Welcome a vulnerable refugee family into your community by exploring how to become a Good Neighbor Team.
A Jesus-centered refugee conversation might look like learning how to follow a God who “did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all” (Romans 8:32). This same sacrificial God commands us to “welcome the stranger” and “love him [the immigrant] as yourself” (Leviticus 19:34).
By Damon Schroeder II World Relief Director for US Integral Mission
Update on Refugee Legislation and 3 Ways to Give Hope
Given recent events, the U.S. Congress has focused attention on the refugee resettlement program. Before going into the Thanksgiving recess, the House of Representatives decided to consider a bill HR.4058 this morning that would put additional cumbersome layers into the refugee program that would have essentially made the program obsolete. This bill passed the US House of Representatives. It is yet to be determined whether the Senate will take up a similar bill. If the Senate does consider a similar bill and it passes, the bill will end up on the President’s desk. The President has said that he would veto the bill. When Congress comes back from recess after the Thanksgiving holiday, World Relief will continue to examine legislation and support efforts that will make the program more effective and robust. For more information on our response, see our Press Release below.
For now, here are 3 ways to engage in the refugee crisis. Show your support to those caught in the middle.
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3 ways to engage in the refugee crisis
- GIVE to refugee families coming to the US from countries with hot climates. Provide warm coats, gloves & scarves for their first cold winter.
- PRAY for needs to be met for our representatives as they continue to evaluate how our country responds to the most vulnerable.
- WELCOME newly arriving refugees by meeting their practical needs.
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****FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE****
World Relief Opposes H.R. 4038, the American Security Against Foreign Enemies (SAFE) Act
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“The passing of H.R. 4038, the American Security Against Foreign Enemies (SAFE) Act is a major step back for our U.S. refugee program. Refugee admission already includes the most stringent security process for anyone entering the United States. The goal of the U.S. refugee program has always been to accept refugees based on vulnerability and not to discriminate against any particular nationality. It should remain this way. We need to continue to welcome refugees into our country.” Stephan Bauman, World Relief
Today, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 4038, the American Security Against Foreign Enemies (SAFE) Act, which would create an extra layer of certification in order for Syrian and Iraqi refugees to come to the United States in addition to reporting requirements.
World Relief, the humanitarian arm of the National Association of Evangelicals, is strongly against this legislation and urges the United States to continue to welcome and protect Syrian and Iraqi refugees.
For 30 years, World Relief has partnered with local churches to resettle over 260,000 refugees to the United States. Since 1975, the United States has resettled more than 3 million refugees – three quarters of a million entered the U.S. since 2001 alone.
“The refugee resettlement program is a life-saving program that has helped millions of those who have fled persecution start their lives anew in a place of safety. At a time when the U.S. needs to show humanitarian leadership, it would be a mistake to effectively shut down a program that has saved millions of lives,” said Stephan Bauman, President and CEO of World Relief. “It is vital to maintain the integrity of this program by accepting the most vulnerable refugees, not excluding anyone based on their nationality or religion.”
World Relief strongly opposed H.R. 4038- The American Security Against Foreign Enemies Act 2015 due to the following reasons:
- H.R. 4038 creates a bureaucratic review process that could take years to implement and would effectively shut down refugee resettlement. The bill requires the approval of the Secretary of Homeland Security, the FBI, and the Department of National Intelligence for each individual refugee. The certification process will have to be created and agreed upon by heads of each agency and could take years to establish, stalling out the refugee program in the meantime. Under this scenario, refugee populations would continue to swell, languishing in camps and dangerous situations, and Syrian Americans would not be able to reunite with their family members. The ramifications for international refugee protection and U.S. foreign policy interests in the region would be costly.
- The process, once established, would add months or years to the security screening process, which is already the lengthiest and most robust in the world, routinely taking between 18 and 36 months. In addition to obtaining approval from three heads of federal agencies for each refugee, the bill requires reporting to thirteen congressional committees on each refugee that is considered for resettlement. This is unreasonably burdensome and will effectively end the program. Furthermore, for reasons of security and safety, security and medical clearances are only valid for limited periods of time. During the certification process, these clearances will expire. This will mean that refugees will be caught in an un-ending loop of security clearances.
- Refugees are already the most vetted non-citizens in our country. All refugees undergo thorough and rigorous security screenings prior to arriving in the United States, including but not limited to multiple biographic and identity investigations; FBI biometric checks of applicants’ fingerprints and photographs; in-depth, in-person interviews by well- trained Department of Homeland Security officers; medical screenings; investigations by the National Counterterrorism Center; and other checks by U.S. domestic and international intelligence agencies. Supervisory review of all decisions; random case assignment; inter-agency national security teams; trained document experts; forensic testing of documents; and interpreter monitoring are in place to maintain the security of the refugee resettlement program. Due to technological advances, Syrian refugees are also undergoing iris scans to confirm their identity through the process.
- The bill is a waste of resources. Funds used to establish and run this certification process would be better used in conducting actual security reviews of refugees and others who are vetted by these agencies.
- The bill is a pretext and requires differential treatment of refugees from Syria and Iraq without providing a justification for the additional verification. This would effectively stop refugees from two countries long beset by internal conflict, including refugees who have been in neither Syria nor Iraq for years.
To turn our backs on refugees now would betray our nation’s core values to provide refuge for the persecuted and affirm the very message those who perpetrate terrorism would seek to send.
www.worldrelief.org / www.wewelcomerefugees.com
Contact: Jenny Yang / jyang@wr.org / 443.527.8363 / @JennyYangWR
World Relief Opposes HR 4038
****FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE****
Date: 19 November 2015
World Relief Opposes H.R. 4038, the American Security Against Foreign Enemies (SAFE) Act
“The passing of H.R. 4038, the American Security Against Foreign Enemies (SAFE) Act is a major step back for our U.S. refugee program. Refugee admission already includes the most stringent security process for anyone entering the United States. The goal of the U.S. refugee program has always been to accept refugees based on vulnerability and not to discriminate against any particular nationality. It should remain this way. We need to continue to welcome refugees into our country.”
Stephan Bauman, World Relief
Today, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 4038, the American Security Against Foreign Enemies (SAFE) Act, which would create an extra layer of certification in order for Syrian and Iraqi refugees to come to the United States in addition to reporting requirements.
World Relief, the humanitarian arm of the National Association of Evangelicals, is strongly against this legislation and urges the United States to continue to welcome and protect Syrian and Iraqi refugees.
For 30 years, World Relief has partnered with local churches to resettle over 260,000 refugees to the United States. Since 1975, the United States has resettled more than 3 million refugees – three quarters of a million entered the U.S. since 2001 alone.
“The refugee resettlement program is a life-saving program that has helped millions of those who have fled persecution start their lives anew in a place of safety. At a time when the U.S. needs to show humanitarian leadership, it would be a mistake to effectively shut down a program that has saved millions of lives,” said Stephan Bauman, President and CEO of World Relief. “It is vital to maintain the integrity of this program by accepting the most vulnerable refugees, not excluding anyone based on their nationality or religion.”
World Relief strongly opposed H.R. 4038- The American Security Against Foreign Enemies Act 2015 due to the following reasons:
- H.R. 4038 creates a bureaucratic review process that could take years to implement and would effectively shut down refugee resettlement. The bill requires the approval of the Secretary of Homeland Security, the FBI, and the Department of National Intelligence for each individual refugee. The certification process will have to be created and agreed upon by heads of each agency and could take years to establish, stalling out the refugee program in the meantime. Under this scenario, refugee populations would continue to swell, languishing in camps and dangerous situations, and Syrian Americans would not be able to reunite with their family members. The ramifications for international refugee protection and U.S. foreign policy interests in the region would be costly.
- The process, once established, would add months or years to the security screening process, which is already the lengthiest and most robust in the world, routinely taking between 18 and 36 months. In addition to obtaining approval from three heads of federal agencies for each refugee, the bill requires reporting to thirteen congressional committees on each refugee that is considered for resettlement. This is unreasonably burdensome and will effectively end the program. Furthermore, for reasons of security and safety, security and medical clearances are only valid for limited periods of time. During the certification process, these clearances will expire. This will mean that refugees will be caught in an un-ending loop of security clearances.
- Refugees are already the most vetted non-citizens in our country. All refugees undergo thorough and rigorous security screenings prior to arriving in the United States, including but not limited to multiple biographic and identity investigations; FBI biometric checks of applicants’ fingerprints and photographs; in-depth, in-person interviews by well- trained Department of Homeland Security officers; medical screenings; investigations by the National Counterterrorism Center; and other checks by U.S. domestic and international intelligence agencies. Supervisory review of all decisions; random case assignment; inter-agency national security teams; trained document experts; forensic testing of documents; and interpreter monitoring are in place to maintain the security of the refugee resettlement program. Due to technological advances, Syrian refugees are also undergoing iris scans to confirm their identity through the process.
- The bill is a waste of resources. Funds used to establish and run this certification process would be better used in conducting actual security reviews of refugees and others who are vetted by these agencies.
- The bill is a pretext and requires differential treatment of refugees from Syria and Iraq without providing a justification for the additional verification. This would effectively stop refugees from two countries long beset by internal conflict, including refugees who have been in neither Syria nor Iraq for years.
To turn our backs on refugees now would betray our nation’s core values to provide refuge for the persecuted and affirm the very message those who perpetrate terrorism would seek to send.
www.worldrelief.org
www.wewelcomerefugees.com
Contact: Jenny Yang // jyang@wr.org // 443.527.8363
Who is our neighbor?
Meet, Johnny, one of thousands of our volunteers across the globe choosing courage and generosity by welcoming new families to the U.S. Hear Johnny’s story and why he is committed to serving refugee families. “It is incumbent on Christians to love God and love others.” – Johnny
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Official Statement on Recent Attacks
World Relief Official Statement on the Recent Attacks in Paris and Beirut
“While many U.S. state governments are calling for a moratorium on refugees coming to their states, we urge local communities to continue to welcome all refugees.”
Stephan Bauman, World Relief
We are deeply saddened by the horrific acts of violence that recently occurred in Paris and Beirut. We join Christians throughout the world in praying for the victims and their families, as well as the survivors, that they may find peace and safety again in their countries. We also pray for the ongoing loss of life in Syria, Yemen, and elsewhere where conflicts rage. These are the areas from which people are fleeing to find security and safety, leaving behind their countries, their families and their lives to start anew.
“As information about these attacks continues to pour in, we ask that Christians and churches across the United States continue to pioneer the way for a compassionate response to the ongoing refugee crisis,” said Stephan Bauman, President and CEO of World Relief. “The only way to fight this darkness is by offering these refugees the love and light of Jesus Christ. Instead of allowing ourselves to be consumed by fear, we must ground ourselves in love and open our arms to these refugees. It would be a mistake to shut out all refugees who have been victims of the same sort of terror inflicted last week upon Paris and Beirut based on these concerns,” he continued.
While many U.S. state governments are calling for a moratorium on refugees coming to their states, we urge local communities to continue to welcome all refugees. For over 30 years, the United States has resettled thousands of refugees who have become vibrant, integrated members of our community. In thepast 5 years, the United States has received less than 2,500 Syrian refugees. Each refugee who comes to the United States has undergone a thorough vetting and security screening process that generally lasts at least 18 months.
The U.S. refugee resettlement system continues to be a lifeline to desperate individuals fleeing violence and conflict from all over the world. Most of those resettled in the United States are women and children. Last year, the United States resettled more Christians than any other religious tradition primarily because Christians have been uniquely targeted for persecution in various parts of the world. Welcoming carefully vetted refugees is an important way to assist these persecuted individuals, where the United States can and should do more in the face of increased persecution.
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