Extending ORR Benefits and Beneficiaries

On March 31, 2022, the director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, Cindy Huang, announced the extension of the Refugee Cash Assistance and Refugee Medical Assistance programs from eight to 12 months, effective immediately.

The Refugee Act of 1980 allowed for cash and medical assistance to be provided to "Any refugee during the thirty-six month period beginning with the first month in which such refugee has entered the United States", but funding limitations have "Historically limited RCA and RMA to eight months of benefits".

Huang went on to add: "Most of the refugee populations ORR serves are fleeing from an unsafe or traumatic experience in their home countries."

Through the 1980 Refugee Act, Congress directed the Office of Refugee Resettlement, within the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families, to provide "Refugees with resettlement assistance that includes employment training, English language training, cash assistance, and job placement".

According to a report by the Migration Policy Institute, refugees tend to receive more public benefits than the U.S.-born population even 20 years after resettlement.

ORR's mission is to "Help refugees transition into the United States by providing benefits and assistance to achieve integration as soon as possible".

Parolees have limited access to benefits and, unlike refugees and SIVs, they are not eligible for refugee resettlement assistance or other federal benefits.
 

https://cis.org/Rush/Extending-ORR-Benefits-and-Beneficiaries