Refugee Crisis, Part 2: Defining Terms (Original post February 15, 2018)

As we consider what our role is in caring for refugees, we need to be sure we are talking about the same people. In today's climate and conversation, there is confusion about refugees. Even those in high office, charged with making critical decisions about refugees seem to be a little fuzzy on the definition.
Refugees are a subset of the larger category of immigrants. They leave one country for the purpose of making a life in another. There are some critical distinctions that come with the designation, though. First, refugees have left their home country because of persecution and that usually includes fearing for their lives and the lives of their families. Second, they arrive in a new country where they seek refugee status. The UNHCR (United Nations High Commission on Refugees) grants or refuses refugee status. Status is granted if the person can demonstrate a real and current threat. Once the person receives refugee status, the host country will grant them certain rights as a refugee. Typically these rights are very limited. In most places, refugees can only work certain jobs if they are allowed to work at all. They are told where they must live and that is usually in a camp or sometimes a designated section of a certain city. This temporary home with limited rights is often called their "second country."

They are not refugees until the UNHCR grants that status. As such, there is no such thing as an illegal refugee. The designation "refugee" means they are in the country legally. 

The United States, largely as a result of geography, is rarely someone's second country. Once the person has received refugee status in their second country, the UN begins the process of finding a "third country" for the refugee. This requires several interviews over several months or years to complete. The UN will then connect them with a third country and a new set of interviews begins. If the US is the third country, the interviews are rigorous. Again, months or years can pass while the candidate undergoes a vetting process that includes interviews with seven US security agencies. If they pass the process, they are then brought to the US and given six months of benefits intended to help them integrate into society and begin a new life. They arrive with whatever they could carry and what the airline would allow.
Upon arrival, a resettlement agency helps them settle in their new home and begin the process of connecting them to US life. The agency will help the refugee apply for a green card, apply for a drivers license, enroll kids in school, find medical care, learn the language, find a job, learn the customs, learn to shop, learn to cook, etc.
When they set their feet on the ground in our neighborhoods, they are scared, confused and tired. They have been through years of processing and they are disconnected from family, friends, and anything familiar. This is our mission field. We are commanded to care for the sojourner in our land and the refugee is the modern-day sojourner. Often, these are people from countries where we would be unwelcome and they are often hostile to missionaries and to the Gospel. Don't we serve an amazing God who brings these people to our doorstep so that we can be obedient without traveling to difficult places? The least we can do is thank Him by being about His mission in our town.
In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus separates the righteous from the unrighteous. Among the characteristics He uses is the way we treat the stranger. He has sent us strangers, sojourners to care for. What will we do about it?

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.
Matthew 25:35