Imagine leaving your home, running from danger and leaving everything you know behind. People who are living in disastrous conditions must make a life-changing decision: live in danger or search for safety.
Those that do find safety in another country do not necessarily have it easy. They may still struggle with poverty and ailments if they do not find work in their new country. Select United States companies are helping by providing work for refugees.
The UNHCR defines refugee as, “someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war or violence.” According the UNHCR, 65.6 million people are displaced, some within their own country, while others are hopeful to resettle in a new country.
The United States has the largest refugee resettlement program in the world, having accepted 3 million refugees into the country since 1970. Since 2016, 96,900 refugees have resettled in the United States. In 2017, President Donald Trump capped the United States’ refugee resettlement intake to 45,000 during the next year. This is the lowest cap in the program’s history.
Danielle Basile, sophomore early childhood education and special education majors, is the upcoming treasurer for the Cabrini University chapter of Catholic Relief Services. She has been a part of CRS since her freshman year and has learned about the journey of refugees through CRS.
“Most refugees live a life of fear when they arrive to the U.S., if they arrive at all,” Basile said. “Most struggle to find places to live or a source of income.”
The United States has coined the nickname, “land of opportunity,” essentially giving people opportunities they may not have in other countries. When refugees resettle in the United States, getting a job can be a difficult task. The unemployment rate is at an all-time low of 4.1 percent, making history in the United States.
In a report conducted by the United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, its network of agencies has helped place over 4,800 refugees in jobs within six months of their arrival in the country. There are currently nine refugee resettlement agencies located in the United States.
Many companies in the U.S. have started hiring refugees, seeing as so many displaced people are in need of work. Starbucks specifically has created a refugee hiring program. In conjunction with the UNHCR, Starbucks has made the global commitment to hire 20,000 refugees by the year 2022.
“It would be great to see more companies participating in this,” Basile said. “I can only hope to see this grow, and become more common.”
Emely Gutierrez, a senior psychology major, also recognizes the benefit of this effort to hire more refugees.
“I think this could be really positive for refugees,” Gutierrez said. “This would help them provide for themselves and their families, make moving a bit easier and start to stabilize the family here [in the United States.]”
