Washington, D.C.—Church World Service today released a new report outlining concrete recommendations for establishing new, educational pathways for refugees to resettle in the United States. Today’s release comes after four years of severe cuts to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program and is aimed at rebuilding refugee resettlement so that it can better protect the world’s most vulnerable. CWS, as one of nine refugee resettlement agencies contracting directly with the State Department, published the report to highlight the need for an education-focused pathway through which refugee students can build lives in safety in the United States. Today’s report expresses support for the Biden Administration’s proposed plan to create a new Priority 4 (P-4) processing designation, and proposes concrete ways that this commitment could be implemented.
Upon the release of today’s report, Erol Kekic, Senior Vice President of Church World Service’s Immigration and Refugee Program, issued the following statement:
“The United States has some of the best universities in the world, they deserve students who can bring new, invigorating perspectives to their classrooms. It has been proven, over and over again, that refugees make our nation stronger; as business owners, as first-responders, as members of our military, and as neighbors. Through the creation of a program that prioritizes aiding refugee students, that strength can only grow.
This administration has taken important steps to reverse the damage done to the refugee resettlement system over the past four years. By implementing this program, it could take another step, one that not only restores our standing as a nation of welcome, but as a home for the next generation of the world’s greatest minds.”
Today’s report lays out clear steps forward for implementation, including calling on the United States to:
- Grant refugee status to refugee students participating in an expanded educational pathway initiative, rather than a fixed-term student visa, including by admitting refugee students through a P-4 category of the USRAP that would help individuals access lasting and permanent protection;
- Commit, if students are admitted through a P-4 category operating alongside the other “traditional” resettlement categories, to not reduce the number of refugees able to be resettled on humanitarian grounds;
- Build on existing relationships with Resettlement Agencies to ensure that core services are provided to student-refugees so that they can excel as new Americans and as students;
- Partner with Higher Education Institutions to resource the initiative, following the model of current Public-Private Partnerships, so that student-refugees can undertake their studies in earnest.
For more information on today’s report, educational pathways for refugees, or to explore partnerships and ways to be involved, please contact media@cwsglobal.org.