Democratic strongholds are already home to robust refugee supporters. However, we need advocates to prioritize GRACE to get a floor across the finish line.
The oldest resettlement agency in Oregon—welcoming those in search of refuge to the Beaver State since 1945—is no longer participating in the Reception and Placement Program.
Catholic Charities of Oregon has been impacted by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishop’s (USCCB) forced withdrawal from the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. The organization faces a two million-dollar shortfall following federal funding cuts, though they’ve raised over $800,000 of a one million-dollar emergency appeal ending this month.
Throughout the decades, the agency has allowed Oregonians the opportunity to participate in responding to some of the world’s most challenging displacement crises: the displacement of Jewish families following World War Two, the Indonesian and Cuban refugees crises of the 1960s, and the Vietnamese refugee crisis of the 1970s.
Since 1980—the year the U.S. Refugee Program was created—Catholic Charities of Oregon has welcomed over 10,500 refugees to the Pacific Northwest. Just last year, Catholic Charities welcomed 350 refugees to Oregon—including those from Ukraine, Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, and Haiti.
Catholic Charities of Oregon has served as the backbone of the Beaver State’s refugee program for eighty years. The loss of their contributions to Oregon’s tradition of welcome cannot be overstated, though the agency continues to support refugees who arrived prior to the Administration’s suspension of resettlement.
Catholic Community Services in Springfield, the only resettlement agency in Lane County, has also been impacted by USCCB’s forced withdrawal.
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