HO CHI MINH CITY –
The United States is introducing a new private refugee sponsorship program based on a similar system in Canada.
State Department officials say the Canadian model helped inspire and inform the design and implementation of the U.S. program, known as the Welcome Corps.
The United States describes the program, which allows ordinary Americans to privately sponsor refugees, as the boldest innovation in refugee resettlement in four decades.
They also acknowledge that it borrows heavily from Canada, where citizens have been able to privately help resettle refugees since the 1970s.
The new US program hopes to enlist 10,000 private donors to help resettle some 5,000 newcomers by the end of the year.
Officials who spoke at a State Department press conference on condition of anonymity described the Canadian program as a “crushing success” and saw it as an important model.
“We have certainly learned lessons from our Canadian allies, from their program,” an official said at a press conference last week.
“We’re very grateful to our friends and allies in Canada who gave us so much advice as we designed this program, and we’re really, really grateful to them for that. there.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on January 23, 2023.
