Rep. Omar Leads Letter Calling for Protections for Refugees, Asylees, and Other Immigrants in the Next COVID-19 Relief Package

WASHINGTON— Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) led a letter to House Leadership today calling for protections for refugees, asylees, and other immigrants in the next COVID-19 emergency legislative package.

The Members requested additional funding in Refugee and Entrant Assistance (REA) funds for the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) for resettlement services, direct Congress to increase refugee cash and medical assistance for eighteen months, increase the Matching Grant per capita by $2000, expand the Preferred Communities program threshold, ensure resettlement agencies are able to maintain their infrastructure to continue to serve incoming refugees, and change the language in the CARES Act to include eligibility for all refugees to receive the cash rebate.

"Refugees, special immigrants, and immigrant visa applicants are important members of American communities," the Members wrote. "Refugees are the most vetted travelers to the United States and face rigorous security checks that take years to complete. Further, immigrants often wait for years and go to great lengths and expense to obtain visas to enter the United States. Afghan SIVs in particular have been persecuted for their faithful and valuable service to the U.S. government. Now is the time to ensure that we do not turn our backs on those we promised to welcome."

The letter was signed by Rep. Donald S. Beyer, Jr., Rep. Earl Blumenauer, Rep. André Carson, Rep. Judy Chu, Rep. Veronica Escobar, Rep. Adriano Espaillat, Rep. Jesús G. "Chuy" García, Rep. Al Green, Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva, Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, Rep. Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr., Rep. Barbara Lee, Rep. Ted W. Lieu, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, Rep. Alan Lowenthal, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, Rep. James P. McGovern, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, Rep. Grace F. Napolitano, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Mark Pocan, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Rep. David E. Price, Rep. Mike Quigley, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, Rep. Adam Smith, Rep. Darren Soto, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Rep. Juan Vargas, Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez, Rep. Peter J. Visclosky, and Rep. Peter Welch.

A PDF of the letter can be found here, and the full text of the letter is below.

Dear Speaker Pelosi and Minority Leader McCarthy:

We write to request that the next emergency legislative package related to COVID-19 include protections for refugees, asylees, and other immigrants in order to ensure that the needs of our newest neighbors are met during this time of crisis.

Firstly, we request $642 million in Refugee and Entrant Assistance (REA) funds for the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) for resettlement services. This funding is critical to ensuring that recent refugee and special immigrant arrivals receive direct assistance, such as cash and medical assistance, housing/rent, utilities, transportation, food, and health needs unavailable through normally operating public channels. And given that recently-arrived refugees are unable to receive the cash rebate as part of the CARES Act, we request a technical fix that clarifies that all refugees, including those who were admitted during calendar years 2019 and 2020 should be treated as "resident aliens" and eligible for the direct cash rebate and thus eligible.

Additionally, in order to ensure that ORR implements the funding in good faith and in the interest of public health, we request that Congress direct ORR to increase refugee cash and medical assistance to eighteen months, increase the Matching Grant per capita by $2,000, expand the Preferred Communities program threefold, and ensure that resettlement agencies are able to maintain their infrastructure and capacity at a level to continue to serve newly arrived refugees, previously arrived refugees, and other populations of concern who remain statutorily eligible for integration services, and to ensure that there is capacity for future arrivals to be adequately served.

We would also like to see report language and guidance that accounts for:

● Floor funding to resettlement agencies to maintain the resettlement infrastructure;

● The need to continue facilitating unaccompanied refugee minor admissions wherever possible;

● The need to extend validity periods for visas and security checks;

● The need to extend the authorization dates of recently-expired travel documents;

● The need to extend application deadlines.

Refugees, special immigrants, and immigrant visa applicants are important members of American communities. Refugees are the most vetted travelers to the United States and face rigorous security checks that take years to complete. Further, immigrants often wait for years and go to great lengths and expense to obtain visas to enter the United States. Afghan SIVs in particular have been persecuted for their faithful and valuable service to the U.S. government. Now is the time to ensure that we do not turn our backs on those we promised to welcome.

Respectfully,

Ilhan Omar

Member of Congress

Additional Signers

Rep. Donald S. Beyer, Jr.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer

Rep. André Carson

Rep. Judy Chu

Rep. Veronica Escobar

Rep. Adriano Espaillat

Rep. Jesús G. "Chuy" García

Rep. Al Green

Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva

Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton

Rep. Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr.

Rep. Barbara Lee

Rep. Ted W. Lieu

Rep. Zoe Lofgren

Rep. Alan Lowenthal

Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney

Rep. James P. McGovern

Rep. Jerrold Nadler

Rep. Grace F. Napolitano

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Rep. Mark Pocan

Rep. Ayanna Pressley

Rep. David E. Price

Rep. Mike Quigley

Rep. Jamie Raskin

Rep. Jan Schakowsky

Rep. Adam Smith

Rep. Darren Soto

Rep. Rashida Tlaib

Rep. Juan Vargas

Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez

Rep. Peter J. Visclosky

Rep. Peter Welch