A Nation of Welcome: Where Americans Want to Welcome Refugees and Why it Matters

For nearly half a century, refugee resettlement has had widespread bipartisan support. Why? Because it’s good for the economy, strengthens our communities, and upholds American values of freedom and opportunity for those fleeing persecution. In recent years, sponsorship has given power to local communities and everyday Americans who want to welcome refugees. From the Great Plains to the Deep South, from the Rust Belt to the Mountain West, a quiet but powerful movement of welcome is reshaping the resettlement experience.

Since 2023, more than 160,000 Americans applied to welcome refugees through the Welcome Corps. The sponsorship program was paused in January as part of an executive order that suspended the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. Thousands of sponsors were actively welcoming or preparing to welcome when the program came to a halt. Combined with federal funding freezes, this has created challenges for refugees already approved for resettlement and those who have recently arrived, as well as the national network of trained volunteers eager to help.

Welcome Corps sponsors are U.S. citizens and permanent residents who volunteer to provide practical, social, and emotional support to refugees as they rebuild their lives in a new community. They raise funds and volunteer their time, talent, and expertise to help refugees adjust to life in America. Collectively, these sponsors committed more than $210 million in private support—a powerful show of civic generosity at a time when public funding is uncertain. These contributions are not from billionaires or corporations—they’re from families, church groups, veterans, and neighbors pooling what they can to help newcomers feel at home.

Refugees who arrive through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, including the Welcome Corps, undergo rigorous security vetting and medical screenings before being approved for resettlement by the U.S. government. Many sponsors applied to welcome someone they already know—some who have been waiting for years in refugee camps or unsafe living situations—while other sponsor groups formed to “welcome the stranger,” driven by their faith, civic or moral values.

A look at where volunteers have signed up to join the Welcome Corps shows how widespread this community-driven support is. Welcome Corps sponsors can be found in every state and in more than 7,700 zip codes across the country. Even Wyoming, which has no state-administered refugee resettlement program, has at least one community that signed up to welcome refugees.

Where Americans Want to Welcome

Both red and blue states alike rank in the top 15 states where Welcome Corps sponsors reside. Among them are California, Colorado, Indiana, Ohio, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Texas, demonstrating that communities, not state politics, dictate where welcome happens. We see that communities of all sizes want to welcome refugees—sometimes in small cities or towns with populations of just a few thousand people.

Two key innovations have made sponsorship more accessible than ever. First, introducing sponsorship to all communities regardless of where volunteers are located. Previous sponsorship programs typically required volunteers to be near or within 100 miles of an established resettlement agency to access government-provided support services. Both the Sponsor Circle Program for Afghans and the Welcome Corps introduced a network of expert organizations to provide virtual support to sponsors.

Second, the Welcome Corps allowed sponsors to refer a refugee they already know to the U.S. government. This could be a friend, family member, or someone they’ve met through overseas work with the U.S. military or helping persecuted Christians.

Not only do these features make sponsorship more flexible and personal overall, they also introduce sponsorship to places where Americans have wanted to welcome but couldn’t before.

More than three hours from the nearest resettlement agency, members of Antioch Church in Bend, Oregon, shared how that remote support from resettlement experts made it possible for them to welcome a Colombian family fleeing violence and persecution. Sponsors helped the family meet tangible needs like finding housing and jobs, but most of all the family needed friendship and community, which the sponsors eagerly provided. Nearly 70 people in the community helped in some way throughout the family’s first 90 days in the United States.

Meanwhile on the east coast, in the small town of Oneonta, New York, the path to community sponsorship started nearly a decade ago when a group of residents started researching how they could welcome refugees. The nearest resettlement agency in Utica was too far for case workers to provide support, so the group volunteered in other ways while seeking new opportunities. Then the launch of the Welcome Corps made it possible for them to welcome right in Oneonta. Local humanitarians, the sponsors also emphasized the appeal of resettlement to revitalize areas like theirs facing population decline. They welcomed twice before the program was suspended.

Why It Matters

Refugee resettlement works best when people see it happening in their own communities. Across all states, faith-based organizations, veterans’ groups, business owners, and civic groups are instrumental in helping refugees not only find safety but also a strong sense of belonging.

At a time of great division, sponsorship offers a rare and powerful opportunity to bring Americans together in tangible acts of service. Sponsors help newcomers find housing and employment and guide them on everyday activities in their community like opening a bank account, grocery shopping or taking the city bus. This type of sponsorship resonates with Americans across the board.

Nearly 7 in 10 Americans support community sponsorship as a refugee resettlement pathway, and more than 1 in 4 are interested in helping sponsor a refugee or refugee family in the next couple of years. This means more than 50 million Americans are interested in becoming sponsors. And while 1 in 4 veteran households have the same strong interest, that increases to 1 in 3 in households where someone served in Afghanistan, reflecting the deep moral conviction of veterans who want to help allies who have been left behind.

Support for refugee resettlement and sponsorship is far-reaching. Recently, more than 300 state and local elected officials sent a letter to the Trump administration advocating to restart the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, signaling strong bipartisan for welcoming refugees and preserving communities’ the freedom to welcome. No matter the state or local politics, the act of welcome is deeply American, and its spirit is alive and well in every corner of the country.