White House launches new program allowing private citizens to sponsor resettling Afghan refugees

Afghan refugees at airport.
(Image credit: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The Biden administration on Monday announced a new initiative allowing private citizens to sponsor resettling Afghan refugees, "a move that could bolster a weakened U.S. resettlement system tested by thousands of recent arrivals," writes Roll Call.

Under the arrangement, groups of citizens can form what are called "sponsor circles" to help refugees with basic services and tasks traditionally handled by nonprofits — like securing housing, accessing governement benefits, and providing food and clothing — during their first 90 days in the U.S, per Roll Call. Local communities and organizations like Welcome.US, Airbnb, Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services, among others, will also assist in the program, notes ABC News.

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Brigid Kennedy

Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.