The youth team at the IRC in Silver Spring enrolled 84 middle school and high school students in our first in-person Summer Youth Academy since 2019 to empower newly arrived school-aged children to obtain the knowledge, skills and education needed to integrate, be self-sufficient and assert control over their futures.

The IRC in Tallahassee hosted its annual Thanksgiving Feast, bringing together clients, volunteers, and community partners to celebrate connection, compassion, and belonging. Families shared traditional and international dishes, children laughed and played, and newly arrived refugees experienced their first American Thanksgiving surrounded by warmth and support. The event was made possible through the generosity of local partners and volunteers, whose kindness turned a shared meal into a powerful reminder of hope, unity, and community.

A new IRC survey from the Mexico-U.S. border finds needs are overwhelming available services. Women and children are at risk.

Ahead of a Senate hearing on appropriations for the State Department and the US Agency for International Development, the IRC submitted testimony to urge Congress to increase funding for programs that provide overseas and emergency refugee assistance, basic education, malnutrition relief, services for vulnerable children, and programs to counter gender-based violence. The IRC also asked Congress to work to improve the effectiveness, transparency, and accountability of humanitarian financing and to allocate 20,000 additional Special Immigrant Visas for U.S.-affiliated Afghans in FY22.

“The vetting is so extreme, there is no room to lie—you will get caught,” say Azzam and Nisreen Tlas, Syrians resettled in San Diego who have experienced the three-year process.