CityLab Daily: Biden’s Refugee Resettlement Plan Depends on Cities
Also today: Ending the war for the future of the suburbs, and a new bipartisan bill aims to bring $1.5 billion to spur new housing.
'Immigrants and Refugees Welcome' signage outside Central Presbyterian Church in Atlanta in 2019. In 2017 and 2018 Atlanta resettled the highest number of refugees of any U.S. city.
Photographer: Raymond Boyd/Michael Ochs Archives via Getty Images
The New Colossus: In a recent executive order, President Joe Biden laid out his goal to welcome a record 125,000 refugees to the U.S. in 2022. The ambitious plan will depend on “community and private sponsorship" — meaning a patchwork of local groups will be responsible for handling the nitty-gritty of resettlement, which includes connecting newcomers to housing, health care and community.
But the number of agencies that engage in resettlement efforts shrank by about one-third under President Donald Trump, in large part because there was no one to take advantage of their services. Last year, his administration set the goal for resettlement at 15,000, the lowest tally in the program's more than 40-year history. That means the Biden administration will be relying on shaky infrastructure just when it needs a solid foundation, CityLab contributor Tanvi Misra writes. And as cities gear up for the rebound that Biden envisions, experts say top destinations like New York City may no longer be refugees' first choice when they resettle. Today on CityLab: How Cities Will Make or Break Biden on Refugee Resettlement