Each year the President consults Congress and determines the number of refugees (called the annual ceiling) the United States will receive. This ceiling is called the Presidential Determination.
By law this ceiling shall be “justified by humanitarian concern or otherwise in the national interest.” The Presidential Determination should be issued before the new fiscal year begins on Oct. 1.
The Biden administration informed Congress that the United States will admit up to 125,000 refugees in fiscal year 2023, doubling the ceiling of 62,500 that it had hoped to resettle in FY 2021.
According to the United Nations, there are 82.4 million forcibly displaced people worldwide, the highest level since World War II. Of these, 26 million are refugees – meaning not only have they been forced to leave their homes, but often friends and family, education, and career – the result of having to leave their home country. 2.5 million refugees live in camps that are crowded and without proper sanitation.
More than half of refugees are children, fleeing violence and at risk of exploitation, abuse, and more. Many refugee children have been separated from their families or are otherwise unsupported.
Refugees from Burma and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are the two largest groups now resettling in Indiana.
Since January 2022 God Is Good has helped resettle 25 refugees and humanitarian parolees from Afghanistan, Ukraine and Russia.