White House program will let private citizens sponsor resettling Afghans

The Biden administration on Monday announced a new program that will allow private citizens to sponsor resettling Afghan refugees.

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The program will involve groups of individuals forming “sponsor circles” to help Afghan refugees as they resettle in the United States.

The sponsor circles will help those who fled the Taliban by providing basic services during their first 90 days in the United States, according to The Hill.

The groups will help with things like housing, furniture, clothing and food, The Hill said.

The refugees will also get help with accessing government benefits.

“Americans of all walks of life have expressed strong interest in helping to welcome these individuals,” the State Department said in its announcement. “The Sponsor Circle Program for Afghans harnesses this outpouring of support and enables individuals to become directly involved in the welcome and integration of our new neighbors.”

The groups must also raise $2,275 per Afghan newcomer.

So far, around 7,000 Afghans who arrived in the United States since fleeing Taliban-controlled Kabul have been resettled in the United States.

Upward of 53,000 refugees are at U.S. domestic military bases and 15,000 more are at other sites.

Since the 1980s, the U.S. federal government has partnered with nine resettlement agencies that have approximately 200 local affiliates across the country, ABC reported. The agencies use government funding to help secure housing and provide basic services and food.

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