A Home for All: The Challenge of Housing in Refugee Resettlement

When a refugee is accepted for resettlement in the United States, they are assigned to a refugee resettlement office that is responsible for providing for all the initial basic needs that a refugee family may need, including finding and furnishing appropriate housing. Finding and procuring housing is the largest challenge to successful integration that resettlement organizations face. Housing has always been a concern in refugee resettlement because there is no coordinated body at the federal level that provides guidance or housing assistance. Nor is there a federal law to ensure that living spaces are set aside for those who have been accepted for resettlement. Without federal support, refugee resettlement, although ultimately successful, can be disorganized and decentralized leading to a situation that is volatile and open to the capriciousness of shifting political leadership. Drawing upon qualitative research conducted with one refugee resettlement organization, which I call Refugee Resettlement Affiliate Office (RRAO), to elucidate the ongoing challenges to housing integration for those refugees resettled in the United States, I assert that a federal solution is needed in order to ensure the smooth integration into life in the US for resettled refugees. This article articulates the challenges to housing as expressed by those working in refugee resettlement and discusses some potential solutions.