Who We Serve

A refugee is someone who, due to a well-founded fear of persecution on the basis of race, nationality, religion, political opinion, or affiliation with a particular social group, must flee his or her country of origin and cannot safely return home.  The individual who has experienced the persecution must cross into another country in order to be considered a refugee, because if she remains inside her country’s boundaries, she is instead considered an internally-displaced person(IDP).  Once in a neighboring country, a refugee must register with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which is the UN Refugee Agency responsible for coordinating everything from refugee camp operations to referrals for refugee resettlement.  The process of being resettled in a country like the United States takes many years, with most of the families Arrive Ministries serves having spent one to two decades in a refugee camp or living in a third country.

• The Humanitarian Parole Program is an extraordinary measure that traditionally has been sparingly used by the US Government to bring an otherwise inadmissible alien into the United States for a temporary period of time due to a compelling emergency.

  Parole is temporary. It does not confer permanent status and does not confer a pathway to citizenship or lawful permanent residency unless Congress provides one.

  Who can apply for Humanitarian Parole?

  Anyone can make an application on behalf of someone who is outside of the United States and has an urgent need to enter the country.

  Individuals may also self-petition for Humanitarian Parole if they are outside the United States.

  Examples of Humanitarian Parole

  Afghans were granted Humanitarian Parole status in 2021 in response to the situation in Afghanistan

  Ukrainians were granted Humanitarian Parole status in 2022 in response to the Russian invasion.

  Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans were granted parole status in early 2023 in response to the instability in those nations and aims to reduce numbers at the southern border. 

  Read more about What is a Humanitarian Parolee?

A person who is seeking asylum takes the risk of presenting himself at the border, and requests asylee status from the American government – a request that can either be approved or denied. An asylum-seeker does not already have a legal status upon arriving in the United States, like a fully-vetted refugee does.

Usually after asking to be granted asylum, an asylum-seeker spends several months (often in a detention facility) awaiting a court date for that claim to be adjudicated or for an interview date. An asylum-seeker is very dependent upon friends and family for shelter, food, and other basic needs, since until they are approved for asylum, they are not eligible for any government programs, including SNAP (food support), and are not allowed to work until they have received an Employment Authorization Document (EAD), which could take many months to get.

At Arrive Ministries, we are only able to provide limited services to those whose asylum status has already been approved. counselor, we can often match an asylum-seeker or an asylee with a team of volunteers.