Refugee Resettlement

Effective June 2025, the refugee resettlement services as described below are suspended due to unprecedented changes in U.S. immigration policy. Because the federal government has halted most refugee admissions to the U.S. and frozen funding for resettlement programs, CCFCS has discontinued our basic refugee resettlement program. We stand ready to resume this program if the federal administration decides to restart the admission of refugees to the U.S.

Please note, CCFCS continues to offer a wide range of services for the refugee community, including job preparation and placement, post-resettlement integration, refugee health, and legal immigration services.

For more information, see our news release.

If you have any questions, please contact our Refugee, Immigration and Employment Department at (585) 546-7220 x4601.

Around the world today, there are over 80 million people who are displaced from their homes, 26 million of those with refugee status. They have been forced to flee from their native country due to violence, conflict, and persecution, leaving many displaced or in exile.

Refugees who have fled their homes usually have no hope for a peaceful return to their homeland. Many refugees have no choice but to remain for years - and sometimes decades - in refugee camps, living precarious and despondent lives.

The greater Rochester region has a long history of embracing refugees from around the world.  Catholic Charities is proud of the role we play in this work and for the community's support of our mission, creating a welcoming and inviting new home and helping hand so that refugees, too, can find peace.

Our Refugee Resettlement Program provides intensive case management for newly arrived refugees from the date of their arrival through their first 90 days in country. Basic resettlement services include:

• Airport Reception
• Assistance securing safe, sanitary, and affordable housing
• Support for necessities such as food and clothing.
• Community and Cultural orientation
• Assistance obtaining social security cards
• School enrollment
• Employment assistance
• Referrals and assistance accessing services from medical, and public benefit agencies

In addition to resettlement services, we also offer enhanced and ongoing services to support former refugees as they acclimate to their new home in the US.

Of the over 80 million displaced people worldwide, only a small percentage (usually less than 1%) will be allowed entry into the U.S. this year. Those refugees fortunate enough to be chosen for resettlement in the U.S. must undergo a rigorous screening process. After numerous interviews, medical exams, background checks and cultural orientation, they may finally be deemed ready to travel to the U.S. and are assigned to a Refugee Sponsoring Agency such as Catholic Charities Family and Community Services.

Our refugee clients are a distinct class of immigrants who are admitted to the U.S. because their circumstances satisfy the criteria for “refugee status”. U.S. immigration law defines refugees as those persons of special humanitarian concern who have fled their country of origin because they have suffered persecution or have a well-founded fear of persecution on account of their race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group.

Once admitted, refugees are eligible to receive certain public benefits, are authorized to work, may obtain a green card, and can pursue a path to citizenship.