- Refugee Services is 100% federally funded.
- Resettlement of refugees is governed by federal law – Refugee Act of 1980, Refugee Education Assistance Act of 1980, Regulated at 45 Code of Federal Regulations Part 400 and 401, 409.953, F.S. Admission to the U.S. of other categories of persons eligible for Refugee Services is also governed by Federal laws and policies.
Eligibility for programs of Refugee Services is determined by federal law and includes the following:
- Refugees are individuals who have been forced to flee their home country due to persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution. Refugees are granted status before they arrive in the United States.
- Cuban/Haitian Entrants is a term used to describe Cuban and Haitian nationals who enter the United States and are granted a parole upon entry, apply for asylum, or are in removal proceedings.
- Asylees are persons already in the United States who, due to persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution in their home country, have been granted asylum by asylum officers or immigration judges in the United States.
- Afghan and Iraqi Special Immigrants (SIV) are Iraqi and Afghani nationals who worked with the U.S. military and who were granted special immigrant status.
- Certified Victims of Human Trafficking (VOT) are individuals from foreign countries who, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion, have been forced to perform a commercial sex act, or have been subjected to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.