February 5, 2021 10:51AM
Biden Tells the State Department to Launch Private Refugee Sponsorship
By David J. Bier
President Biden issued an executive order providing for a number of changes to the U.S. refugee program that President Trump had gutted during his four years in office. One important change follows a recommendation from Cato’s compilation of 30 executive actions to restore legal immigration (and many other times): private refugee sponsorship. The president states:
To meet the challenges of restoring and expanding USRAP, the United States must innovate, including by effectively employing technology and capitalizing on community and private sponsorship of refugees, while continuing to partner with resettlement agencies for reception and placement.
As I’ve explained before, private sponsorship has been highly successful in Canada for decades and following the United Nations’ call for more such programs at least seven other countries have created some version of private sponsorship since 2014. The president can implement a privately funded refugee program with his existing authority under the Refugee Act of 1980, which already requires him to consider available private funds before setting the refugee target.
https://www.cato.org/blog/biden-tells-state-department-launch-private-refugee-sponsorship
