CWS Immigration and Refugee Program

In Focus: With resettlement, refugees see "the other side of hope"

Participants in a cultural orientation class

U.S.-bound refugees in a CWS Cultural Orientation class in Nairobi, Kenya.
Photo: Carol Fouke-Mpoyo

Program Director:
Rev. Joseph Roberson

I was a stranger, and you welcomed me. - Matthew 25:35b

Nearly 35 million people around the world are uprooted from their homes and communities by persecution and armed conflict. The Immigration and Refugee Program of Church World Service (CWS/IRP) is an ecumenical family empowering churches to show hospitality to strangers, that is, to immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers and other uprooted people in the United States and around the world. CWS/IRP resettles about 8,000 refugees and entrants in the United States each year, and also helps meet the needs of people in protracted refugee situations and refugees returning home.

CWS/IRP Newsroom

Special Features

Refugee stories from across the decades: CWS's 60 years of resettlement
Resources on refugees from Bhutan / Burma / Burundi / Iraq and more
Books, films, and more about refugees, immigrants, and detention

Be an advocate on policy decisions affecting immigration and refugees.

A Future with Hope: Welcoming Refugees Video (DVD)
The new CWS DVD “A Future with Hope: Welcoming Refugees” (running time: 15:25) inspires and challenges viewers to extend friendship and practical assistance to refugees resettling in the United States. Order online » | Watch a trailer on YouTube

Read about our work in our monthly newsletter, Welcome (PDF file)
Welcome (formerly Monday) archive • Get Acrobat Reader

World Refugee Survey 2008: www.refugees.org
The annual survey by the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants offers comprehensive statistics on sources and host countries for refugees.