Bills
| 3.23.22

Changing How States Receive Federal Funding for Refugee Resettlement (S. 1615)

Do you support or oppose this bill?

What is S. 1615?

(Updated March 15, 2018)

This bill would call on the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) to come up with a new formula for how grants and contracts are given to their programs. The formula would be based on the number of refugees being served, and the state they live in. 

This bill would also call for a study of the ORR's domestic refugee resettlement programs. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) would be responsible for studying how effective each of it's over 20 programs are. 

In addition, the ORR would have to:

  • Ensure that refugee assistance is given to qualifying secondary migrants. Secondary migrants move from their place of origin to another location temporarily, before settling elsewhere;

  • Report to Congress on state experiences with the arrivals and departures of secondary migrants;

  • Expand the Office’s data analysis, collection, and sharing activities to include data on mental and physical medical cases, housing needs, and refugee employment.

The Dept. of State and the Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) would be required to give guidance on refugee resettlement to the appropriate national, state, and local entities.

Argument in favor

Refugee resettlement programs need to be assessed to make sure they are effective before they are expected to handle an influx of refugees from Syria and Iraq.

Argument opposed

The U.S. shouldn't be resettling refugees in the first place. Government resources should go to fixing domestic problems before taking on the burdens of others.

Impact

Refugees, the Dept. of State, DHS, the Office of Refugee Resettlement, and the GAO.

Cost of S. 1615

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth: Sponsoring Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) introduced this legislation to address funding mechanisms she views as disadvantaging her home state of Michigan. In a press release, she noted that when refugees move from one state to another, the federal funding given to states doesn’t always follow them, creating shortfalls in states with large numbers of refugees. Sen. Stabenow added that:

“Michigan has long been a compassionate state, providing support for families who flee from persecution and violence in their own countries. This legislation will make sure that the resources follow these vulnerable families who settle in Michigan to the agencies providing the critical services they need.”

This bill has two cosponsors in the Senate, including Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) and Sen. Angus King (I-ME).


Media:

Summary by Eric Revell
(Photo Credit: Flickr user mmmswan)