About Refugees
About Refugees
About Refugees > Resettlement > USCRI Network

Resettling Refugees in America

Each year Americans welcome refugees to the U.S. Whether they come from Tibet, Sudan, Iraq, Burma, Congo or another part of the world, all refugees share a similar journey.

Refugees, differ from other immigrants, in that they do not have the choice to remain in their home country. Refugees flee their country to save their life. They run from war and persecution, often loosing beloved family members along the way.

Many refugees then spend years and sometimes decades in substandard refugee camps. Less than 1% of all refugees get the chance to leave a camp and resettle in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia or other country that resettles refugees.

When a refugee arrives in America, he or she usually comes with nothing more than the clothes on their back. A group like USCRI meets the refugee at the airport and helps him or her begin the process of building a new life in America.

USCRI's Resettlement Network is dispersed across the U.S. from Miami to Boise with programs in large cities like New York and Los Angeles and small towns like Bowling Green, Kentucky and Erie, Pennsylvania.

The USCRI Network develops and implements a variety of programs to help refugees become contributing members of our society, gain their freedom, and pursue happiness in America.

Our programs focus in three areas:
  • Helping refugees to meet their immediate needs upon arrival. These include helping each refugee family find and furnish a first apartment, learn the public transportation system, get their children into school, find a doctor, learn English and find a job. Refugees are expected to become self-sufficient within their first year of arrival to the U.S.
  • Aiding refugees in overcoming past trauma and grief and helping them develop new support systems in America.
  • Preparing for long-term success. This includes everything from managing money and understanding credit, to training for a new career or re-establishing professional credentials in the U.S.
Learn more about refugee resettlement through USCRI's Field Offices:



Volunteer, give your unwanted household goods,or make a donation to help refugees.

Find out more about USCRI's Resettlement Programs:

The USCRI Network has resettled refugees across the U.S. since 1975. Our work resettling refugees began with the first wave of Indochinese refugees in the 1970's. Our Network resettled people fleeing from communist Vietnam, the "killing fields" of Cambodia and other parts of Southeast Asia. In the 1980's the USCRI Network expanded to resettle refugees from Central America and the Horn of Africa, especially Somalia, Ethiopia, and Eritrea.. In the 1990's we resettled new waves of refugees from Sudan and other regions of Africa, and the former Yugoslavia. In this decade we have welcomed refugees from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Burma.

Our professional staff is constantly updating our programs and their skills to be ready to receive refugees forced to flee from any part of the world. We believe offering safety from war and persecution and a chance to begin again is at the very core of America's values. Ca h h