The U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP)
Refugee resettlement is a sustainable solution for individuals who have fled their country due to persecution based on a protected ground. These individuals are unable to safely return home and require permanent relocation to a third country because they cannot remain in their current country of residence.
The U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) receives referrals for refugees who are particularly vulnerable and in need of the protection that third-country resettlement offers. The program provides a pathway for resettlement to the United States under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). According to the INA, a refugee is someone who is outside their country of nationality, or their last habitual residence if stateless, and who is unable or unwilling to return to that country due to persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution based on their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.
We are dedicated to protecting individuals with specific needs, including women and girls, children, the elderly, ethnic and religious minorities, LGBTQI+ persons, people with disabilities, stateless individuals, human rights activists, dissidents, and others who may be eligible for permanent refugee resettlement through the USRAP.
President Biden has reaffirmed the United States' commitment to welcoming refugees by setting the total admissions ceiling for FY 2024 at 125,000, the same target established in FY 2022, and the highest target in decades. This decision underscores the United States’ leadership in refugee resettlement during an unprecedented global displacement crisis, as record numbers of people flee war, persecution, and instability.
Currently, nearly 110 million people are forcibly displaced, the highest number in history. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports that 2.4 million refugees need protection through third-country resettlement. For these individuals, resettlement in the U.S. provides an opportunity to begin a new life in safety and dignity, free from fear of violence or persecution.
The USRAP embodies our nation’s long tradition of welcoming immigrants and reflects U.S. values-based foreign policy, offering hope to persecuted individuals worldwide. It serves as a crucial expression of our commitment to international humanitarian principles, saving lives, and alleviating human suffering. Additionally, it highlights our dedication to human rights, including the freedom of religion, belief, and expression. Importantly, it remains a strong symbol of the United States’ ongoing solidarity with refugees and the countries that host them.
The USRAP is also a key foreign policy tool that advances U.S. interests and national security goals. It contributes to building a system that promotes safe, orderly, and humane lawful immigration. In conjunction with humanitarian aid and diplomacy, resettlement helps foster stability in crisis-affected regions, demonstrates U.S. responsibility-sharing with host countries, and facilitates U.S. negotiations for improved humanitarian conditions. This includes securing access to legal work, education, and lawful status for most refugees who remain in their first countries of asylum and will never be resettled. The success of the USRAP depends on the collaboration of U.S. government agencies, states and localities, private resettlement organizations, the American public, foreign governments, UNHCR, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Since the Refugee Act was passed in 1980, the United States has admitted over 3.2 million refugees.