The U.S. Department of State announced good news for those who care about refugees and would like American college students to engage in more productive activities than protesting campus speakers or signing statements on controversial topics. Under a new policy announced in July 2023, Welcome Corps on Campus will allow U.S. universities and college students to sponsor refugees, helping them enroll in classes and navigate life in a new country.
In January 2023, the Biden administration announced Welcome Corps to permit Americans to become private sponsors of refugees. It is fair to say the Trump administration would not have championed such an initiative. White House immigration chief Stephen Miller told Cliff Sims, a Trump communications aide, that "I would be happy if not a single refugee foot ever again touched American soil." U.S. refugee admissions plummeted 86% between FY 2016 and FY 2020 under Trump, according to George Mason University economics professor Michael Clemens.
