Global Refugees Program

GLOBAL REFUGEES & MIGRATION IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY: POLICIES AND NARRATIVES OF INCLUSION N O V E M B E R 1 5 , 2 0 1 8 • 1 : 0 0 P. M . • C O P L E Y F O R M A L L O U N G E

ABOUT THE PROJECT & SPONSORS ABOUT THE GLOBAL REFUGEE AND MIGRATION PROJECT Since 2000, the numbers of refugees and displaced persons have skyrocketed worldwide. These population movements have created vast challenges for the international community as well as for destination countries and local communities where refugees and displaced persons settle. Effective polices in this area must address the refugee crisis at three different levels—global, national, and local—and how they interact in practice. Just as critically, they must foster inclusion by countering the xenophobic narratives that exacerbate the politics of the refugee issue worldwide.

With support from the Georgetown University Board of Regents, the Institute for the Study of International Migration and the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs are leading the two-year Global Refugee and Migration Project, which will convene leading experts and practitioners to grapple with the worldwide crisis and develop concrete policy recommendations. Specifically, work will focus on responses to migrants and refugees and consider how these responses, practices, and policies may hold lessons for other local, national, and global contexts.

ABOUT THE INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION The Institute for the Study of International Migration (ISIM) applies the best in social science research and policy expertise to understanding international migration and its consequences. Founded in 1998, ISIM is part of the Walsh School of Foreign Service and affiliated with the Law Center at Georgetown University.

ISIM focuses on all aspects of international migration, including the causes and responses to population movements, immigration and refugee law and policy, comparative migration studies, immigrant integration in host societies, and the effects of international migration on social, economic, demographic, foreign policy, and national security concerns. ISIM also studies internal displacement, especially the forced migration of people moving for reasons that would make them political or environmental refugees if they crossed an international border.

ABOUT THE BERKLEY CENTER FOR RELIGION, PEACE, AND WORLD AFFAIRS The Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs seeks a more just and peaceful world by deepening knowledge and solving problems at the intersection of religion and global affairs through research, teaching, and engaging multiple publics.

Two premises guide the center’s work: that a comprehensive examination of religion and norms is critical to address complex global challenges, and that the open engagement of religious and cultural traditions with one another can promote peace. To this end, the center engages students, scholars, policymakers, and practitioners in analysis of and dialogue on critical issues in order to increase the public understanding of religion.

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @GUberkleycenter @GUMigration

2

SPEAKERS INTRODUCTION WELCOME, VICE PRESIDENT FOR GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT, 1:00 - 1:15 P.M. THOMAS BANCHOFF is vice president for global engagement at Georgetown University and professor in the Department of Government and Walsh School of Foreign Service. He serves as a senior fellow in the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, which he led as founding director from 2006 to 2017.

PANELISTS ADMISSION AND EARLY INTEGRATION: LESSONS FOR THE UNITED STATES, 1:15 - 2:45 P.M. KATHARINE M. DONATO is the Donald G. Herzberg Professor of International Migration and director of the Institute for the Study of International Migration in the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

MIKE MITCHELL is the associate vice president of U.S. programs at Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS). He serves as a strategic advisor on HIAS’ efforts to expand its resettlement network, fully integrate refugees into our communities, and enable refugees to achieve greater success in their lives.

RACHEL PERIC (@RachelPeric) is the executive director of Welcoming America. Since joining this organization in 2011, Peric has worked to create communities where residents, immigrants, and refugees can thrive and belong and has assisted the growth of Welcoming America from a startup to global entity.

JOAN ROSENHAUER (@jrosenhauer) is the executive director of Jesuit Refugee Service, leading the organization’s efforts to accompany, serve, and advocate for refugees and displaced people in over 50 countries around the world. Rosenhauer has spent the most of her career advocating for social justice and mobilizing the U.S. Catholic community to do the same.

HANS VAN DE WEERD (@hansvandeweerd) is the vice president of International Rescue Committee, leading U.S. programs in aiding those struggling and enduring through the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Van de Weerd has also has expertise in international business, crisis management, cross-cultural management and communications, and diplomacy.

LOCAL RESPONSES AND LONG-TERM INTEGRATION, 3:00 - 4:30 P.M. SHAUN CASEY (@shauncasey57) is director of the Berkley Center and a professor of the practice in Georgetown’s Walsh School of Foreign Service. He is also a senior fellow with the Luce Project on Religion and Its Publics at the University of Virginia.

ALI AL SUDANI (@Alialsudani) is the vice president for Refugee Services at Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston. In conjunction with the U.S. State Department and many other faith-based organizations, Sudani helps lead the greater Houston area in resettling legal refugees fleeing from political, social, or religious persecution in their homelands.

3

SPEAKERS SONIA LIN is the general counsel and policy director for the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs in New York City. Lin’s efforts include providing equal access to the resources available in New York City for immigrant communities and connecting them with important information and services to enhance their economic, civic, and social integration into New York City.

LINDA LOPEZ (@Drlindalopez)is the chief of the Office of Immigrant Affairs at the mayor’s office in Los Angeles. Appointed to her position in September 2013, Lopez is responsible for providing overall strategic advice to Mayor Eric Garcetti on his immigration policy agenda and creating innovative programs to successfully integrate immigrants into Los Angeles’ social, economic, and political environments.

KEYNOTE AND AUDIENCE Q&A, 4:45 - 6:00 P.M. DENIS MCDONOUGH (@denismcdonough) was the twenty-sixth White House Chief of Staff

during former U.S. president Barack Obama’s second term. Before serving as Obama’s chief of staff, he was White House deputy national security adviser from September 2010 to February 2013.

This event is co-sponsored by the Institute for the Study of International Migration and the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs. It is part of the Global Refugee and Migration Project, which is generously supported by the Georgetown University Board of Regents.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION #refugeeswelcome #withrefugees

#refugeecrisis #GUmigrationproject

4

B LO G S : H O W R E L I G I O U S CO M M U N I T I E S A R E R E S P O N D I N G TO T H E REFUGEE CRISIS meet staff and refugee clients and told me about the energy and talents they bring to Pittsburgh. I also met with local leaders—including then-City Council members Natalia Rudiak (whose mother was from Poland) and Bill Peduto (descended from Italian immigrants, he is today the mayor of Pittsburgh). Allegheny County Chief Executive Rich Fitzgerald, who then and now resided in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood where the Tree of Life Synagogue is located, shared that refugees have been part of Pittsburgh’s rejuvenation.

WELCOMING REFUGEES IN PITTSBURGH

By Anne C. Richard The gunman who opened fire in a synagogue in Pittsburgh, killing 11 worshippers and perpetrating the deadliest attack on Jewish people in recent U.S. history, wanted to harm those bringing “invaders that kill our people.” You should know: Jewish people are bringing Hispanic, Muslim, and other refugees to the United States…but then, so are Catholics, Episcopalians, evangelical Christians, and non-believers.

The Trump administration, however, is intent on shutting down the public-private partnership that has brought 3.4 million refugees to the United States since the late 1970s.

“While arguing that the most cost-effective way to help refugees is to send aid overseas, [Trump] administration actions signal that it does not really care about the refugees—or the thousands of Americans who staff, volunteer with, or contribute to these nine groups and help welcome the refugees.”

According to news reports, the shooter was active on social media with posts that were anti-Semitic and against nonwhite immigrants, including Central American migrants and asylum-seekers. He allegedly focused his attention on HIAS programs that help the tiny fraction of the world’s refugees start their lives over in America.

HIAS resettles refugees in Pittsburgh through its affiliate: Jewish Family and Community Services (JF&CS). It has 16 other affiliates across the country. In addition to HIAS, the U.S. government’s program to resettle refugees involves eight other non-profit partners. Six of the nine resettlement groups are faith-based (such as the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops, working through Catholic Charities in Pittsburgh), and three are secular (such as the U.S. Committee on Refugees and Immigrants, also with a Pittsburgh affiliate). Combined, their networks stretch from coast to coast. A couple of years ago, resettlement offices were located in 180 American towns and cities.

But the entire network is now under attack. First came the Trump administration’s travel ban that threw a wrench in the work of the refugee resettlement pipeline—halting it one week into the Trump administration. It has been start and stop ever since as courts have overturned subsequent versions of the travel ban, up until the present, third version that a split (5-4) Supreme Court upheld last June. The decision allows President Trump to exclude many Muslim refugees from war-torn countries, even though many are the victims of terrorism. Extra layers of scrutiny were also added to the refugee vetting process, ignoring national security experts who assert the vetting is already thorough.

I visited the JF&CS office in Pittsburgh in 2012. JF&CS These extra steps and bureaucratic hurdles slowed the flow Refugee Services Director Leslie Aizenman took me to of refugees to a crawl. Most recently, the administration

5

set the lowest ceiling for refugee resettlement since the Vietnam era—30,000 refugees in fiscal year 2019. Even that number is laughable, as only 22,491 were admitted in FY 2018. Another blow is coming: A grant notification issued this past spring threatens to cut the number of nonprofits involved in the program.

It is clear that the White House wants to dismantle the program. While arguing that the most cost-effective way to help refugees is to send aid overseas, administration actions signal that it does not really care about the refugees —or the thousands of Americans who staff, volunteer with, or contribute to these nine groups and help welcome the refugees. While it is true that most refugees remain in exile in countries neighboring their own, and that aid dollars stretch further there, the U.S. resettlement program offers a new life in this country to some of the world’s most vulnerable refugees. Victims of torture, members of persecuted religious minorities, families struggling to provide care to children with rare illnesses or the wounds of war—these are some of the cases the UN refugee agency refers to the U.S. resettlement program.

became a refugee resettlement agency, working in public-private partnership with the federal government on the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, in 1988. In the last 30 years alone, the Episcopal Church has resettled more than 95,000 refugees.

The Episcopal Church continues the work of welcome, despite the Trump administration’s continuous drastic policy changes that are dismantling the nation’s refugee resettlement infrastructure. While EMM awaits worof whether it will receive a contract with the U.S. State Department to continue its refugee resettlement work, EMM has emphasized its community and church engagement work, most notably through its Love God, Love Neighbor initiative.

With the severe decrease in the number of refugee arrivals, opportunities for congregations and faith communities to work directly with newly arriving refugee families have also dwindled. And yet, there has been an increase in interest and desire to welcome refugees among both faith communities and the general public. Once the program became a political target In Pittsburgh, the refugees I met reflected several different subject to rhetorical and policy attacks, the public nationalities: mostly Bhutanese, smaller numbers of stepped up in huge numbers and wanted to help and Iraqis, a woman from Uzbekistan, Somali Bantus. Two support this humanitarian program.

Pakistani brothers were Christian, most of the Bhutanese refugees were Hindu, and a Jewish woman said she had been resettled from the former Soviet Union years before.

They’ve been helped by Pittsburghers who are Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, and none of the above. Since the attack in the synagogue, Pittsburgh’s Muslim community has raised money for the victims and offered to stand guard during their services. Even as we mourn those who died in this act of terror, we should fight to preserve the American tradition of faith-based groups aiding refugees EMM’s response to this imbalance—increased interest of all faiths. in welcoming refugees while arrivals have been severely cut back—was to train, equip, and empower members LOVE GOD, LOVE of faith communities to take a more active role in NEIGHBOR: community organizing, changing public perception of CHANNELING ENERGY refugees and immigrants, and participating in political FOR REFUGEE advocacy. The Love God, Love Neighbor training WELCOME program gives participants a global overview of the forced migration crisis, a survey of U.S. immigration

By Allison Duvall history, and training in the principles of asset-based community development, positive and values-based The Episcopal Church has messaging, and faith-based advocacy. actively participated in refugee resettlement since The initial four Love God, Love Neighbor trainings the 1940s, and Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM) were funded by a grant. EMM is now actively seeking

“In the last 30 years alone, the Episcopal Church has resettled more than 95,000 refugees.”

6

partners to host new Love God, Love Neighbor events across the country. If your community, congregation, judicatory, or ecumenical/interfaith group would like to explore hosting a Love God, Love Neighbor event, please contact Episcopal Migration Ministries.

individuals displaced within their own countries, asylum seekers in cities, and those held in detention centers.

The mission of JRS is to accompany, serve, and advocate for the rights of refugees and other forcibly displaced persons.

JRS is inspired by the compassion of Jesus, who made it his mission to reach the most marginalized people of his time.

The JRS mission is built on a faith in God who is present in human history, even in its most tragic moments. We are inspired by this faith and by core values that inform all the work we do.

JESUIT REFUGEE SERVICE RESPONDS TO GLOBAL CHALLENGES IN REFUGEE PROTECTION Responding to: How Religious Communities Are Responding to the Refugee Crisis

In many countries and contexts, refugees are often the most marginalized, the most disenfranchised, and the most vulnerable. Although refugees have inherent human rights, those rights are often overlooked as they are denied the ability to work, to go to school, or to find permanent safety and security.

By: Giulia McPherson Global displacement has reached record-high numbers, with more than 68 million people forced to leave their homes as a result of persecution, conflict, generalized violence, or human rights violations. This translates into one person being displaced every two seconds of every day.

The Catholic Church, and the Gospel stories at its foundation, provide us with a clear-eyed view of how we as Catholics must regard refugees. In Church teachings and through messages delivered by Pope Francis, it is clear that displaced persons—including refugees—are special in the eyes of God.

These staggering figures have placed the plight of refugees front and center in the news media, in our halls of Congress, and in our communities. While some have welcomed refugees with open arms, others have shunned them. What are we as Catholics called to do? How are we to regard refugees?

JRS’s identity as a faith-based organization plays a critical role in how we carry out our work. We are also inspired by the common ground found in values shared by different faith traditions, by the rich diversity of our teams, and by the fact that most of our beneficiaries today are Muslim, reflecting the demography of today’s global refugee population. According to the UN Refugee Agency, Muslim-majority countries including Syria, Afghanistan, and Somalia rank among the top origin countries for the world’s refugees.

Catholic social teaching provides us with a guide for how we should treat refugees and migrants. Not only are we encouraged to love and support those who are like us and those that we love, but we are called to demonstrate extraordinary acts of love by reaching out to those who are not like us. We are called to welcome strangers.

Here in the United States, JRS works with fellow Jesuit institutions—including high schools, universities, and parishes—to share the realities of the lives of refugees and to mobilize these communities to take action. Our faith calls us to stand up and speak out when the least among us faces persecution. JRS provides opportunities for communities to do just that by organizing Refugee Actions Teams, hosting refugee simulations, or contacting their Today, JRS works in more than 50 countries by meeting policymakers. By doing our part—both in supporting the educational, psychosocial, health, and emergency host communities that have welcomed refugees and needs of over 637,000 refugees and other forcibly displaced advocating for our own governments to protect the rights persons. JRS works side-by-side with the displaced, of refugees—we are truly living out our faith. providing assistance to refugees in camps and urban areas, Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) was founded by Fr. Pedro Arrupe, S.J., then superior general of the Jesuits. In 1980, deeply shocked by the plight of thousands of Vietnamese boat people fleeing their war-torn country, Fr. Arrupe felt compelled to act. He called on the Jesuits to “bring at least some relief to such a tragic situation.”

7

8