From JFCS CEO and President, Dr. Jordan Golin:
“Pittsburgh benefits from the cultural richness, diversity and energy refugees bring to our region. It is also our obligation and an American value to provide humanitarian assistance to some of the world’s most vulnerable people. We should not forget how many of our ancestors arrived here, seeking a safe haven from persecution.”
JFCS Pittsburgh urges the Federal Government to reconsider cuts to the refugee resettlement program for 2021 and raise admissions to help meet the needs of 1.4 million refugees in need of immediate resettlement.
On September 29, 2020, the federal government announced intentions to lower the refugee admissions ceiling for Fiscal Year 2021 to 15,000 refugees, an additional cut of 3,000 from the previous year. This number, lowered from the 2020 number of 18,000 is now the lowest number in United States history and comes at a time when the refugee population around the world is at an all-time high.
The United States has proudly provided life-saving resettlement to over 3 million refugees over the history of the resettlement program. This is one of our nation’s proudest and longest standing traditions, including resettling Jewish refugees during World War II, Vietnamese refugees in the 1980s, and more recently refugees from Sudan, Bosnia, Bhutan, Burma/Myanmar, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
As the largest refugee resettlement agency in the Greater Pittsburgh area and a HIAS affiliate, we will continue to work each day to strengthen and support refugees in their quest for safety, security, and freedom. We believe that it is our obligation, as Americans living in a prosperous, democratic society, to help those who are less fortunate than ourselves. The refugee resettlement program must be preserved and strengthened.
We urge our elected officials to reconsider this devastating change to the refugee resettlement program and increase the number of refugees welcomed into our country in 2021.
For members of the public wishing to advocate for restoration of the refugee resettlement program, please consider signing this petition from HIAS to Secretary of State Michael Pompeo: act.hias.org/page/22178/petition/1