Office of Refugee Resettlement

The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) is a program of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), an office within the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), created with the passing of the United States Refugee Act of 1980 (Public Law 96-212). The ORR offers support for refugees seeking safe haven within the United States, including victims of human trafficking, those seeking asylum from persecution, survivors of torture and war, and unaccompanied alien children. The mission and purpose of the ORR is to assist in the relocation process and provide needed services to individuals granted asylum within the United States.

Since 1975, the United States has assisted in the resettlement of more than 3 million refugees. Annual admissions of refugees to the United States since the 1980 Refugee Act was enacted have ranged from 27,100 to as many as 207,116.

Before World War II, nonprofit voluntary agencies called “Volags” were generally responsible for aiding immigrants and refugees. In 1946, the U.S. federal government began supporting these organizations financially with the Corporate Affidavit Program. However, beginning with an influx of refugees fleeing Castro’s Cuba, the federal government began to take the primary financial role in assisting refugees. This response set a precedent of federal involvement, with Eisenhower and Kennedy expanding efforts to assist nonprofits in settling refugees—efforts which became permanent with the Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1962.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement was officially established with the passage of the Refugee Act of 1980. It was created in “an attempt to design a coherent and comprehensive refugee admission and resettlement policy”. The act (a) gave recognition to the Office of the U.S. Coordinator for Refugee Affairs, which was given authority over the development of U.S. “refugee admission and resettlement policy”, and (b) established the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which was given the authority to provide grants with nonprofits for resettlement services (including training and healthcare), and reimbursed states for efforts undertaken within the first three years of a refugee’s living in the United States.

In its goal of allowing the United States to respond quickly and efficiently to the needs of refugees, the Refugee Act of 1980 also established a new appointed office, the U.S. Coordinator for Refugee Affairs, who is appointed by the President and consults with the ORR.

...
Wikipedia