Families Seeking Asylum

Please help asylum-seekers reach their sponsors in the US.

Who are asylum-seekers?

Asylum-seekers are people who have been forcefully displaced from their home country and seek sanctuary in another. Seeking asylum is legal under U.S. immigration law, but asylum-seekers must await trial before being granted asylum. While they await trial, asylum-seekers are permitted to live with a sponsor. The asylee may legally remain in the United States as a legal immigrant while they await trial for their asylum claim. If asylum is not granted, the asylum-seeker is deported.

Asylum-seekers arrive at ports of entry, ask for asylum, and are placed in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. As asylum-seekers are released from custody, community migrant support organizations offer services to welcome them to the United States and prepare them for the last part of their journey to their sponsor.

Project Welcome provides post-detention support and services to asylum-seeking families, increasing preparedness for asylum-seekers and the communities serving them. To best prepare families exciting ICE detention, Project Welcome provides hospitality services that provide short-term shelter, food, clothing, a connection with their sponsors, resources, information, and other necessities. The program's goal is to provide hospitality and support while they await travel to their destination in the United States.

The sponsor finances travel arrangements, but in some cases, the sponsor cannot afford to finance the last leg of the immigrants' travel. Often sponsors are newly-established legal immigrants who do not have discretionary income. Please donate to Project Welcome so we can help finance trips for the families that find themselves in these situations. Any amount you can give to this cause will be greatly appreciated — let's get these families to their new homes together!