Support Refugees in COVID-19 Relief Package

Alliance to End Human Trafficking envisions a world without slavery with a network of resources and services to prevent the crime and assist survivors in achieving a fulfilling life. While there is great diversity in those who are victims and survivors of human trafficking, one consistent characteristic is that traffickers prey upon vulnerable populations.

This World Refugee Day (June 20), we focus our attention on preventing the trafficking of refugees who given their precarious situation are prime targets for traffickers. One important way to help prevent the trafficking and exploitation of refugees is to support their relocation to a safe area for permanent resettlement and provide financial assistance for basic necessities such as shelter, food, and transportation. Once settled into their new homes, it is important to continue offering support to ensure they understand their rights and are not taken advantage of through false offers of employment or out of desperation to care for their families.

The current reality of the global pandemic due to COVID-19 and its impact on the economy puts these already vulnerable communities at even greater risk for exploitation within their new home countries. (see our monthly reflection) Many refugees are essential workers on the frontlines of pandemic response, including in the healthcare field, as truck drivers critical to the supply chain, and as grocery store employees. Many more refugees and other vulnerable populations are facing dire and immediate challenges during this unprecedented public health crisis. These stories from our friends at Church World Service are illustrative of refugees and their families’ current needs. Many of these families will fall through the cracks without meaningful congressional intervention, as the public health crisis continues.

We welcome refugee resettlement in the United States believing that they make our communities stronger by sharing their many gifts and diverse backgrounds. We must do all we can to protect our refugee neighbors during this difficult time. 

Given the vulnerability of the refugee population to trafficking and exploitation, particularly during this time of COVID-19, we are calling on Congress to include the following provisions in any future COVID-19 relief package:  

1. Automatically extend work authorization, visa renewal deadlines, security check and immigrant visa validity periods and processing deadlines so that refugees and Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) recipients are not harmed by COVID-19 disruptions to applications, renewal, and processing.
2. Ensure that tax-paying immigrant and refugee populations are eligible for stimulus payments, including individuals who file taxes with an ITIN;
3. Halt the implementation of the new public charge rules during the COVID-19 crisis;
4. Appropriate $642 million in supplemental funding for the Office of Refugee Resettlement for refugees living in the United States to ensure vulnerable populations like refugees don’t fall through the cracks.
5. Resume refugee admissions expeditiously consistent with general travel restrictions from refugees’ countries of residence and continue processing vulnerable refugees with acute protection needs.
6. Ensure the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) increases reception and placement direct assistance by $1,000 per capita to strengthen direct support for recent and new arrivals, including and beyond their first 90 days of arrival, and support domestic resettlement infrastructure.

Together we can help protect vulnerable refugees and prevent human trafficking! 

To add your voice in support of refugees by sending an email to your senators with this message please: click here 

Or you can call your senator and leave a message with the below script:

As a (member/supporter) of Alliance to End Human Trafficking, I am committed to ending human trafficking in our country. Refugees are a population particularly vulnerable to human trafficking given their situation, and are even more at risk with the current health pandemic of COVID-19. My faith calls me to prioritize the safety and well-being of the most vulnerable and to honor the human dignity of all people. One important way we can help prevent the trafficking of refugees is to ensure they have the support and stability needed to care for themselves and their families during this health crisis. Therefore as you consider another COVID-19 Relief Package I urge you to include the following provisions: 

1. Automatically extend work authorization, visa renewal deadlines, security check and immigrant visa validity periods and processing deadlines so that refugees and Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) recipients are not harmed by COVID-19 disruptions to applications, renewal, and processing.
2. Ensure that tax-paying immigrant and refugee populations are eligible for stimulus payments, including individuals who file taxes with an ITIN.
3. Halt the implementation of the new public charge rules during the COVID-19 crisis.
4. Appropriate $642 million in supplemental funding for the Office of Refugee Resettlement for refugees living in the United States to ensure vulnerable populations like refugees don’t fall through the cracks.
5. Resume refugee admissions expeditiously consistent with general travel restrictions from refugees’ countries of residence and continue processing vulnerable refugees with acute protection needs.
6. Ensure the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) increases reception and placement direct assistance by $1,000 per capita to strengthen direct support for recent and new arrivals, including and beyond their first 90 days of arrival, and support domestic resettlement infrastructure.

Thank you for your consideration. Together we can help protect vulnerable refugees and prevent human trafficking! 

Category: Around the World, The Alliance to End Human Trafficking