Letters to the editor | Sponsor refugees

Why doesn’t the U.S. have a refugee sponsorship program?

In Canada, any group of five citizens or any civic group can sponsor a refugee. The refugees go through the same vetting process as government-sponsored refugees, but responsibility for their well-being in the first year of resettlement rests with the sponsors. This includes reception upon arrival, finding housing, schooling and employment, and covering expenses. As I write, a synagogue in Toronto has sponsored a Syrian refugee family, and Canadians are assembling using social media to form groups to sponsor other refugees.

A sponsorship program like this in the U.S. would facilitate Americans assisting refugees such as the Central American children and the flood of refugees fleeing the violence of the Middle East and north and eastern Africa.

It would allow religious communities, service groups and private individuals to assist directly in the current humanitarian crisis.

And refugees who have sponsorships come with the assurance of community support in resettling and starting fresh lives in the U.S.

Naomi Altman

State College

This story was originally published September 29, 2015 at 11:57 PM with the headline "Letters to the editor | Sponsor refugees."