Refugee Programs - Funding Critical!
The Senate and Congress have until just March 18 to agree on a federal budget, and on the table are massive proposed cuts in funding that would cripple refugee assistance programs locally and nationwide.
It is imperative that the Senate and Congress hear strong support for continued funding of refugee services if there is any hope of averting the disaster that H.R.1, proposed legislation, would create domestically and internationally.
Senators and members of Congress must be contacted by phone or email today and urged to save the refugee resettlement program from drastic cuts!
Contact information for Senators representing New York State:
Sen. Charles Schumer
313 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-4451
(716) 846-4111
(716) 846-4113 (FAX)
http://schumer.senate.gov/
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand
476 Russell Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-4451
(716) 854-9725
(716) 854-9731 (FAX)
http://gillibrand.senate.gov/
To find your representative in Congress:
https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml
A plea from the members of the Western New York Refugee and Asylee Consortium, composed of Catholic Charities of Buffalo, Journey’s End Refugee Services, Jewish Family Service of Buffalo & Erie County and the International Institute of Buffalo:
Save Refugee Resettlement Programs for Benefit of Humanity, Our Community
The House of Representatives has proposed massive cuts in funding that would effectively cripple the refugee assistance program locally and nationwide. These cuts would force programs to close – shutting the door on tens of thousands of people who no longer have a country to call home and eliminating the minimal resources that enable new arrivals to become vibrant and productive members of their communities.
While it is clear budget cuts are needed, even some that may be painful; this level of reduction would be devastating and snip the thread of hope to which so many persecuted individuals cling.
More than 1,300 refugees were given protection, a fresh start and a new life here in Buffalo last year by the four resettlement provider agencies – Catholic Charities, Journey’s End Refugee Services, Jewish Family Service and the International Institute of Buffalo. These are individuals who meet the standard for a “well founded fear of persecution” if forced to return to their homeland and are identified so by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Admittance to the United States is controlled by the Department of State.
The proposed cuts by the House, contained in the budget now before the Senate, would impact humanitarian assistance programs in three funding areas. Up to 45 percent of funding to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, Migration and Refugee Assistance, and International Disaster Assistance would be gone.
As resettlement providers we are committed to continuing our support for the refugees, but this work cannot be accomplished without strong support and financial follow-through on the part of the U.S. government.
Many refugees resettled locally are professionals in their home countries. These are people looking for a safe place to raise their families – not a handout or a free ride. Many refugee children excel as they grow up here in Buffalo, some studying on scholarship at such universities as Harvard, Cornell and Yale.
Refugees are productive and reliable employees. They pay taxes, open businesses, rent apartments, and buy cars and homes. When they settle in Buffalo, they contribute to our economy and soften the population loss this area has experienced in recent decades.
Since it is already five months into the fiscal year, cuts of this magnitude would basically shut down the refugee assistance program in this country and severely reduce refugee processing. These cuts will undermine our ability as a nation and local coalition of refugee resettlement providers to meet humanitarian obligations and protect refugees.
The bottom line if the cuts are made: Programs will close, refugees already in the U.S. will lose services, refugees overseas will be stuck without food, water or security in camps, refugee processing will stop, jobs will be lost, and families will not be reunited.
Let’s do the right thing for humanity – and our community – support refugee assistance not cut it. Senators and congressmen and women must be contacted by phone or email today and urged to save the refugee resettlement program from drastic cuts. For more information on how to help, go to www.ccwny.org.