Among all the horror at responses to others in our borders, this was heartening as a policy response, supplementing sabotaged inadequate official refugee resettlement with a private sponsor programs like the Canadians have So the U.S. State Department, working with humanitarian organizations, turned to ordinary Americans to fill the gap. Neighbors, co-workers, faith groups and friends banded together in “sponsor circles” to help Afghans get settled in their communities. They raised money and found the newcomers homes to rent, enrolled their children in schools, taught them how to open bank accounts and located the nearest mosques and stores selling halal meat. Since the U.S. military’s withdrawal from Kabul last year, the Sponsor Circle Program for Afghans has helped over 600 Afghans restart their lives. When Russia invaded Ukraine, a similar effort was undertaken for Ukrainians. Now the Biden administration is preparing to turn the experiment into a private sponsorship program for refugees admitted through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program and is asking organizations to team up with it to launch a pilot program by the end of this year. https://tampabaytimes-fl.newsmemory.com/?publink=0883c9b61_134861b
