Global Refuge

We are thrilled to announce that Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) will now be known to the world & the people we serve as “Global Refuge.” 🌍🎉 New name, same mission. We invite you to learn more: globalrefuge.org/identity

When business owner Frank Fumich started making a sustained effort to hire refugees and other immigrants, the positive impact on his workforce, his business, and his life was felt immediately. As owner of airline catering service Express Catering and as a Global Refuge Preferred Refugee Employer, Fumich employs a large number of refugee and immigrant workers. In fact, nearly his entire workforce at Express Catering’s Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport location is made up of immigrants. “Immigrants are incredibly important to our country and our economy,” he says. “We need common sense immigration laws that recognize that. It's that simple.” This dedication to his employees’ well-being led Fumich to become a Global Refuge Preferred Refugee Employer (PRE). PREs receive ongoing training and support from Global Refuge and become proven pipelines for hiring and retaining refugee talent. So when Fumich learned that some refugees with legal work authorization would soon lose their status and face deportation, he knew it would hit close to home. 📰 Read more: https://bit.ly/3XZ627K 🔗 Learn more about Preferred Refugee Employers: https://bit.ly/4hmid5D #RefugeesWelcome #WelcomeWorks

Four years after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, thousands of Afghan allies who risked their lives for our military are still stranded, without the safe passage to the U.S. they were promised. Learn how Global Refuge is crucial to helping these families rebuild a sense of home after losing everything in service to our country.

Join us for a webinar to hear updates from Global Refuge staff and clients in SAN ANTONIO, TX. We will share how the recent federal funding freeze has impacted refugee families in our care, as well as ways you can volunteer and support our work in the region and beyond. 📅 Wed, March 26, 2025 ⏰ 4PM CT 🔗 Register today: https://bit.ly/3FoGbQq #RefugeesWelcome 📸: Photos by Kaylee Greenlee Beal.

📢 NORTH DAKOTA! 📢 Join us for a webinar to hear updates from Global Refuge staff and clients in North Dakota. We will share how the recent federal funding freeze has impacted refugee families in our care, as well as ways you can volunteer and support our work in North Dakota and beyond. 📅 Tues, March 25, 2025 ⏰ 4PM CT 🔗 Register today: https://bit.ly/421FDIY #RefugeesWelcome 📸: Photos by Dan Koeck and Julian Spath.

A story to commemorate #internationalwomensday: Lesya grew up in the former Soviet Union during the 1980s. In 2000, she, along with her parents and six siblings, moved to the U.S. as refugees from Ukraine and made a home in Sacramento, CA. They came in search of opportunity and religious freedom and arrived with almost nothing –– a few bags and only $300 –– but despite these challenges, Lesya and her family embraced the fresh start. With the help of a local resettlement agency, Lesya and her family got jobs. She started working for a local insurance company. One brother became a delivery driver; another worked in the kitchen at a nursing home –– and became one of the most popular members of staff as he took the time to get to know the residents. In the evenings, Lesya and two of her siblings helped their father clean a local restaurant. In so many ways, Lesya and her family started contributing to their new community. Since, the family has grown with kids and grandkids. Lesya is now the mother to a wonderful boy with so much promise ahead. She is paying forward the welcome she received in her new role as a Refugee Services Coordinator at Lutheran Services Carolinas. In sharing her story, Lesya described this nation as a beacon of hope for those fleeing persecution, hardship and danger. She said that she and her family are living proof that the American Dream is still alive and well for those who work for it. Her reflections make me think of my mom, who also came to this country with a few hundred dollars and yet worked hard and contributed to the Baltimore community by teaching and supporting a generation of kids. Lesya and her family are a testament to the fact that welcoming immigrants has brought so much benefit to the United States culturally, socially, and economically. They are a true success story that reflects the great importance of welcoming others. I’m thinking about Lesya today, and my mom, and women like them all over the world who display incredible strength, resilience, and perseverance. Today is about celebrating their stories and everything they’ve given to their families, their communities, and their countries.

On International Women's Day and every day, we celebrate the strength and courage of women around the world! This year, we reflect on the many incredible women who have risked everything to bring themselves and their families to safety—leaving their homes and all they’ve ever known with little more than the clothes on their backs because they believed a better life was possible. Global Refuge stands in awe of your courage, sacrifices, and inspiring resilience—and we are committed to doing everything we can to continue supporting and uplifting your voices. #InternationalWomensDay #RefugeesWelcome

We’ve joined the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and other faith leaders in affirming our support of refugee and other immigrant communities. Read the statement below. 📰⤵️ -- We stand united as people of faith in our commitments to welcome the stranger and to care for the most vulnerable – commitments rooted in our common understanding of our Creator’s love for all and call to serve our neighbors. In these overlapping holy days of Purim, Lent, and Ramadan, we join our voices together to express our grave concern for the individuals and families seeking refuge in this country. We are particularly devastated and concerned for the welfare of the thousands of refugees who were approved and even ready for travel, only to have their plane tickets taken away. For more than four decades, our faith-rooted organizations have partnered with the US government to ensure that people forced to flee their country because of conflict, violence, or persecution are vetted and arrive legally, to be welcomed in this country with services to meet their basic needs. The recent US State Department termination of cooperative agreements with the 10 national resettlement agencies in the US has made already-at-risk people even more vulnerable. We urge all people of faith and goodwill to join us in advocating with our elected leaders for our partnerships with the government to be restored so that we can fully work with those we are called to serve. We invite you to join us in prayer for all people who are forced to flee home. May they know our deep and abiding commitment to their lives and well-being. 🔗 https://bit.ly/3DrbKbB #RefugeesWelcome

As we await the joint sessions of Congress tonight, I hope we remember that the greatness of our nation is rooted in so much of the history and people who shaped the superpower we are today.    Immigrants are an essential part of our past and an intrinsic part of America’s future. At Global Refuge, we believe that refugees and other immigrants continue to help make the United States what it is today—from the farmers working in the fields to the doctors fighting to keep families healthy.   We believe that welcome still works. We believe there is room at the inn. We believe our greatness is measured not just by our strength but also by our grace and generosity to those fleeing violence, persecution, and oppression.  #RefugeesWelcome #WorkofWelcome

We are deeply concerned over the U.S. Department of State’s sudden decision to terminate its grant agreements for the reception and placement of refugees arriving through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP). “This termination of federal support and the continued failure to reimburse for services already provided represents the essential destruction of a program that has saved more than 3.6 million lives since its creation in 1980,” said Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, President and CEO of Global Refuge. “The work of welcome does not belong to one organization or one government agency—it belongs to all of us,” added Vignarajah. “We will not abandon those in need. We call on our supporters, faith leaders, and community partners to stand with us and ensure that refugees continue to find safety and belonging in this country.” 📰 Read full statement: https://bit.ly/3Dca6dI 🚨 Take action: https://bit.ly/3DaEhSC #RefugeesWelcome #WorkofWelcome