Note:  This is a sign on letter for national, state, and local organizations (including faith-based organizations). Please be in touch with alice.games@rescue.org with any questions.

DEADLINE for signature is this Thursday, November 19, 2020.

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The Honorable Richard Shelby, Chairman
Committee on Appropriations
U.S. Senate
Room S-128, The Capitol
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Patrick Leahy, Vice Chairman
Committee on Appropriations
U.S. Senate
Room S-128, The Capitol
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Nita M. Lowey, Chairwoman
Committee on Appropriations
U.S. House of Representatives
Room H-307, The Capitol
Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Kay Granger, Ranking Member
Committee on Appropriations
U.S. House of Representatives
Room H-307, The Capitol
Washington, DC 20515

CC:
The Honorable Mitch McConnell
The Honorable Charles Schumer
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
The Honorable Kevin McCarthy

November #, 2020

Dear Chairman Shelby, Vice Chairman Leahy, Chairwoman Lowey, and Ranking Member Granger:

On behalf of the # undersigned organizations, we write to thank you as leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees for your work to provide support for all Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic. We urge you to appropriate adequate funds to support refugees, asylees, asylum-seekers, and other forcibly displaced populations in Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21).

The bipartisan U.S. resettlement program is an important public-private partnership that advances our foreign policy goals, supports our national security, and saves lives. At this time of national health and economic crisis, it is important that all populations are included in recovery measures: leaving out some leaves all at greater risk. Just like all Americans, refugees resettled to the U.S. share in the vulnerabilities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, the challenges faced by refugees in navigating and surviving the crisis are distinct in many ways. As newcomers to their communities, as individuals who have previously lost their country, loved ones, and virtually all possessions, and as survivors of persecution, torture, or other trauma, refugees’ needs during this time are particularly acute. Nonetheless, this community is serving on the frontlines of America’s COVID-19 response: there are 176,000 refugees working in health care and 175,000 refugees in the food supply chain across the U.S.

We ask that FY21 appropriations include:

In the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) appropriations bill, we recommend FY21 funding levels of $6.34 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services’ Refugee and Entrant Assistance (REA) account. REA funding needs are projected to increase substantially over the last eight months of FY21 to support the restoration of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), given President-elect Joe Biden’s commitments to return to global leadership on refugee protection and in light of unprecedented global resettlement needs. Accounting for the number of refugees awaiting processing and those already approved for admission, the U.S. will have capacity to resettle up to 100,000 refugees by the end of FY21. It is critical that the administration and U.S. communities have the capacity they need to help refugees integrate and thrive.

The REA account provides critical initial investments in the long-term integration and economic success of new Americans. It includes integration services for refugees and asylees (including Unaccompanied Refugee Minors), Cuban and Haitian Entrants, Iraqi and Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) recipients who have assisted the U.S. missions abroad, survivors of human trafficking, survivors of torture, and unaccompanied immigrant children. The early employment, self-sufficiency, and long-term successes of these groups are possible because of strong public-private partnerships with local communities and the limited, but critical, investments by the federal government through this account.

In the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPs) appropriations bill, we recommend $4.35 billion for the Department of State’s Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA) account; $100 million for the Department of State’s Emergency Refugee and Migration (ERMA) account; and $4.52 billion for the U.S. Agency for International Development’s International Disaster Assistance (IDA) account.

Increased appropriations for these SFOPs accounts are critical to renew U.S. global humanitarian leadership and meet the acute challenges posed by the largest forced displacement crisis in history. Given the projected increase in U.S. refugee admissions, MRA appropriations are necessary to provide sufficient funding for humanitarian assistance, overseas refugee processing, and domestic Reception & Placement grants for resettled refugees. Similarly, if the regular practice of using the ERMA account (a presidential draw-down account that provides a crucial safety valve in emergencies) were to return to historic norms, additional funding would be needed given the increasingly protracted nature of refugee crises and double emergency posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is imperative that Congress increase the ERMA authorization from $100 million to $200 million, appropriate an additional $100 million to fully fund the account at the new level, and authorize the Secretary of State to draw down on the account to facilitate its judicious use.

Finally, we urge you to direct the Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) to use its resources to provide specific relief to refugees in the U.S. The $350 million in supplemental funds for the MRA account as appropriated in the CARES Act, together with regular MRA appropriations, should equip the Department to devote additional resources to those most in need. We hope that you will direct PRM to increase Reception & Placement (R&P) assistance grants by $1,000 per capita to strengthen direct support for recent and new refugee arrivals, including and beyond their first 90 days of arrival and effective until the impact of the COVID-19 crisis is no longer felt; provide $1,200 in cash assistance directly to refugees and Afghan and Iraqi SIV recipients who arrived in the U.S. in the last 12 months; obligate funding to and in consultation with each of the nine refugee resettlement agencies to stabilize the infrastructure required to continue serving vulnerable populations; and maintain the international and domestic infrastructure of the USRAP.

Thank you for the opportunity to submit these funding recommendations and for your attention to these important matters.

Sincerely,