Welcome Corps terminated, ending the LGBTQI+ private-sponsorship referral track
- Date
- Actor
- Department of State (PRM)
- Agency
- Department of State (DOS)
- Type
- Funding action
Summary
The Department terminated the Welcome Corps, the private-sponsorship program launched in January 2023. The FY2024 Report to Congress had described the Welcome Corps as the vehicle "to facilitate support for LGBTQI+ refugees ... enabl[ing] U.S.-based groups to identify and refer specific LGBTQI+ refugees for resettlement consideration through the USRAP." Rainbow Railroad, an LGBTQI+ refugee organization, was among the partner organizations named at launch. Termination removed the last non-governmental route by which an LGBTQI+ individual abroad could be named into USRAP. (See also section 9.)
Status
Terminated; not restored. Rainbow Railroad has since stood up a privately funded "Communities of Care" volunteer network in its place.
As recorded in the data of . Check the sources for anything newer.
Documents
Sources
- welcome.us/explainers/latest-changes-to-refugee-admissions-and-the-welcome-corps(opens another site)
- rainbowrailroad.org/the-latest/a-future-in-the-balance(opens another site)
- rpc.state.gov/documents/FY-2024-USRAP-Report-to-Congress_FINAL-Accessible-11.02…(opens another site)PDF, external
- washingtonblade.com/2023/01/20/rainbow-railroad-to-participate-in-new-us-refuge…(opens another site)