Dozens of U.S. corporations have committed to invest more than $650 million to help educate and resettle refugees from Syria and other countries in the Middle East and elsewhere, the White House announced Tuesday morning.
Fifty-one companies, including Accenture, AirBNB, Chobani, Citigroup, Facebook, Goldman Sachs, Google and IBM, will help provide education, training and jobs to more than 6.3 million refugees from more than 20 countries, according to the White House. The businesses will coordinate their work with more than 70 non-governmental organizations.
President Obama announced the new private sector initiative as the latest step in his June “call to action” to help curb the refugee crisis, the worst since World War II. An estimated 65 million people have been displaced worldwide, including 5 million from Syria alone, according to administration figures.
“A crisis of this scale requires more than government action. In issuing the Call to Action, President Obama challenged the U.S. private sector to draw on its unique expertise, resources and entrepreneurial spirit to help refugees regain control over their lives and integrate into their new communities,” the White House said in a statement. “Their response is unprecedented.”
Obama will host the Leaders Summit on Refugees, urging the U.S. and other countries to take in more Syrian refugees at the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York on Tuesday afternoon. Months in the making, the summit comes just days after weekend terrorist attacks that are raising more questions about whether the U.S. should crack down on immigration instead of further opening the doors.
Since the pressure-cooker bombings over the weekend, Donald Trump and other Republican critics are saying it’s time to tighten immigration rules, not ease them.
The Obama administration has already admitted 10,000 Syrian refugees to the U.S. this year, and has plans to increase those commitments in the final months of his administration with the goal of accepting 110,000 Syrian refugees by next October. That figure, however, will depend on the next president’s views and policies.
Obama and other officials argue that it can admit the refugees while ensuring U.S. security. The White House reiterated that pledge Tuesday with the new private-sector announcement.
“It is important to highlight that refugees who are admitted to the United States undergo the highest level of security screening of any category of traveler to the U.S., including the involvement of the National Counterterrorism Center, the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of State and the Department of Defense,” the White House said.
The White House released a list of all the U.S. companies participating in the new refugee resettlement initiative, as well as details about each of their commitments.
