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An Overview of the CWS Immigration and Refugee Program

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The Church World Service Immigration and Refugee Program was created by several Protestant denominations that came together at the end of World War II to respond to the needs of refugees in Europe. Since 1946, CWS has helpedmore than 450,000 refugees begin new lives in the United States, and continues to resettle about 8,000 more refugees and Cuban and Haitian entrants each year.

CWS, seven participating denominations and their congregations, and 35 CWS local affiliates affiliates in 23 states work together to meet the needs of refugees upon their arrival to the United States, assisting them as they strive to attain self-sufficiency. A growing number of local affiliates provide immigration legal services along with refugee resettlement services.

The Church World Service Immigration and Refugee Program also:

  • Processes the cases of refugees from sub-Saharan Africa for resettlement in the United States through a Cooperative Agreement with the Department of State/Bureau for Population, Refugees, and Migration. Its Overseas Processing Entities in Nairobi, Kenya, and Accra, Ghana, represent the 10 agencies, including Church World Service, that are responsible for the reception and placement of these refugees.

  • Administers the Religious Services Program, which was established in 2004 and operates in seven government-run immigration detention centers across the United States. On-site staff coordinators and volunteers provide immigration detainees with structured and consistent religious opportunity and enhance overall religious program quality, accommodating all religious beliefs. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security funds the program, which is carried out in collaboration with Jesuit Refugee Service.

  • Helps meet the needs of people in protracted refugee situations through its Durable Solutions for Displaced Persons. The program complements existing basic survival services with education, health, nutrition, information dissemination, and capacity building projects to engage the human need for intellectual, social, and spiritual motivation. This helps refugees realize their potential and live productive lives whether in camp or, as is hoped, either back home or permanently integrated or resettled elsewhere.

  • Monitors public policy and practice toward immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants; represents public policy positions adopted by CWS to the federal government, and works in collaboration with a number of advocacy partners in refugee resettlement and protection organizations to build a hospitable community in the United States for immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants.

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