Refugee Resettlement

“I just think that this is really a matter of values when you come right down to it, and I think our country is enriched by refugees like my grandfather,” said Senator Al Franken (D-MN). “I think we have to do a gut check here, and see who we are as a people.”

World leaders will convene in New York on September 19 during the UN General Assembly to address the displacement crisis affecting millions of people around the globe. It’s the first time such a high level gathering has ever been held solely to focus on refugee and migration issues. The Jewish community will be watching closely, because today’s refugee law comes directly from our own historical experience as refugees.

“I don’t know what they’ve been through, but I can relate to them as parents—as human beings.” Leslie Aizenman describes the “low-tech, high-touch process" of resettling refugees in Pittsburgh.

The U.S. will reach an important milestone this week for refugees. The Obama Administration announced today that it will meet its goal of welcoming at least 10,000 Syrian refugees before the end of September, part of its response to the humanitarian crisis in Syria created by years of an unrelenting civil war.