United States

United States

HIAS resettlement partner JFS of Western Massachusetts welcomes a family as they arrive to the U.S.—a result of the Pacito v. Trump lawsuit that HIAS filed against the Trump administration on its pausing of refugee resettlement. (Lindsay Kagalis/HIAS)

Founded

Late 1880s

Connect

info@hias.org

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HIAS has helped millions of refugees, asylum seekers, and displaced people rebuild their lives in the United States over the course of more than a century. While the context has changed, our priority has remained the same: to provide welcome and compassion to newcomers in a moment of transition.

Since the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) began, HIAS has helped refugees begin a new chapter in their lives after fleeing violence and persecution. Working through our network of resettlement partners across the country, HIAS welcomes resettled refugees, asylum seekers, and other displaced people. We provide initial resettlement services, housing assistance, employment training and career development, social integration and services, and legal support.

Despite the Trump Administration’s devastating attacks on refugee resettlement, the asylum system, and immigration in general, HIAS is still providing humanitarian assistance to newcomers in the U.S. With the Jewish community behind us, we advocate for the rights of all refugees and immigrants and deliver vital support through protection services, mental health care, and economic empowerment.

Refugee Rights and the Trump Administration

3,279 refugees

and Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) holders resettled by HIAS and our resettlement partners in fiscal year 2025.

Our Program Areas

HIAS helps refugees and asylum seekers find safety and welcome in the United States through protection services—including legal support, preventing and responding to violence against women and girls, looking after children’s rights, providing safe housing, ensuring access to food, and resettling refugees. We also provide mental health care and social integration services to help newcomers heal and rebuild their lives in their new communities. Additionally, we support refugees, asylum seekers, and displaced people with economic support, including direct financial assistance, job training, and career development. HIAS engages Jewish communities to provide direct assistance to newcomers as well as advocate alongside us for fair and humane immigration policy and global humanitarian aid to support displaced people around the world.

A HIAS legal client sits and talks with a client in this thumbnail for the video

We protect refugees and displaced people by offering legal support, preventing and responding to violence against women and girls, looking after children’s rights, providing safe housing, ensuring access to food, and resettling refugees. These approaches are all tailored to local contexts and are designed to strengthen communities to support people forced to flee violence and persecution.

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Support Community Mental Health

HIAS’ community-based mental health programs promote the well-being of individuals, families, and communities affected by crisis and conflict so they can heal and rebuild their lives.

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Magdiel Galeano Gómez, a refugee from Nicaragua now living in Costa Rica, works on a product for his business, Jeff Creative. (SideXSide Studios/HIAS)

Through our economic empowerment work, we ensure refugees have safe economic opportunities to earn sustainable income and contribute to their communities.

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Engage Jewish Communities

We work with Jewish community groups, congregations, partner organizations, volunteers, and advocates across several countries to mobilize a powerful Jewish voice in support of the rights and safety of immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers.

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Plaintiffs of a court case stand in front of the court.

From mobilizing grassroots advocates to engaging policymakers, advocacy is fundamental to HIAS’ work. With the Jewish community beside us, we stand up for the rights of forcibly displaced people globally.

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A HIAS legal client sits and talks with a client in this thumbnail for the video

We protect refugees and displaced people by offering legal support, preventing and responding to violence against women and girls, looking after children’s rights, providing safe housing, ensuring access to food, and resettling refugees. These approaches are all tailored to local contexts and are designed to strengthen communities to support people forced to flee violence and persecution.

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Impact

Rahman and his four sons in New York, NY in August 2025. (Matt Schiavenza/HIAS)

Racing Against the Clock, a Chadian Family Reunites

After fleeing political persecution in Chad, Rahman sought asylum in the U.S. HIAS helped her win her asylum case, but her children were still back in Chad. After 11 years, Rahman was finally able to reunite with his four sons, thanks in part to HIAS’ legal team.

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How HIAS Supports Newcomers in the U.S.

HIAS provides initial resettlement support for refugees admitted through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, partnering with more than twenty local organizations nationwide. We offer trauma‑informed services, including case management, cultural orientation, and family reunification support, and we train and monitor our partners to ensure high‑quality care. To reach more newcomers, we also provide virtual resettlement services across the country.

Despite significant obstacles created by the Trump Administration, HIAS welcomed 3,729 refugees and SIV holders in FY2025, including 1,545 Afghans, and our virtual team supported an additional 485 people.

Learn more about our Resettlement Network

In response to the Afghan refugee crisis in 2021, HIAS launched volunteer-led Welcome Circles, which are groups of synagogues, churches, families, and friends, who have supported thousands of newcomers with housing, employment assistance, healthcare navigation, school enrollment, and cultural orientation. HIAS provides each Circle with individualized coaching, volunteer training, and an online learning community.

Since President Trump has halted refugee arrivals, only Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) holders could still enter the U.S., yet they arrived without the promised support and faced acute risk of homelessness. HIAS has rapidly mobilized Welcome Circles to support hundreds of Afghan SIVs, and we have expanded our work to assist asylum seekers.

Learn more about Welcome Circles

Hostile U.S. immigration policies have created widespread fear and destabilized housing for many immigrant families, leaving many vulnerable to exploitation, eviction, and homelessness. In response, HIAS has expanded multiple programs to keep immigrant families safely housed.

The Ms. L Settlement Housing Assistance Program, launched in 2024, supported nearly 400 families traumatized by the family separation policy during the first Trump Administration. HIAS has provided rental assistance, eviction prevention, temporary housing, and tenant‑rights education. Additionally, HIAS’ Housing Guarantee Fund helps refugee families secure rental housing by backing their leases. HIAS’ Emergency Housing Assistance Program also disperses urgent rental aid to refugees and SIV holders. In 2025, HIAS also launched a new housing‑orientation course to help immigrants navigate U.S. rental systems and build long‑term housing stability.

HIAS supports refugees and other newcomers in achieving economic stability through three employment programs. The Matching Grant (MG) program helps new arrivals reach self‑sufficiency within 240 days without relying on public cash assistance. It combines case management, employment training, job referrals, budgeting support, and help with transportation, housing, medical needs, English instruction, and integration.

The Refugee Career Pathways (RCP) program helps internationally experienced professionals overcome barriers to skilled employment. Launched in 2021 and expanded in 2025 with HIAS resettlement partner JFS San Diego, the RCP program provides coaching, digital literacy instruction, job‑readiness training, résumé support, LinkedIn guidance, mock interviews, and sector‑specific workshops. It also offers wellness sessions addressing mental health and workplace stress.

The Employer Engagement program (EEP) partners with businesses to create workplace‑based training aligned with employer needs, including English instruction and job‑specific skills.

Working with our resettlement partners across the U.S., HIAS helps refugee and immigrant families integrate into their new communities by overcoming barriers such as finding housing, accessing healthcare, and navigating new systems. Our services range from one‑on‑one case management to group activities that support emotional wellbeing, cultural orientation, and peer connection. Our partners also offer short‑term assistance during periods of crisis or transition, ensuring no one is left without essential support. HIAS also invests in training and tools for frontline staff so they can provide safe, trauma‑informed, and culturally respectful care to the people we serve.

During FY2025, HIAS and our resettlement partners served 1,093 refugees and 6,008 displaced people, by providing short‑term case management, legal referrals, financial assistance, and mental health support.

HIAS provides free legal representation to low‑income immigrants in the NYC and DC regions who fear harm in their home countries. Our legal team helps refugees and asylum seekers obtain work authorizations, asylum grants, green cards, and family reunification. We also provide free legal consultations. Our legal support program helps participants save millions of dollars in legal fees.

Despite unprecedented challenges, including mass firings of immigration judges, an increasingly hostile Board of Immigration Appeals, harmful legislation imposing new fees, severe processing delays, a broad travel ban, and rising fear among clients, HIAS continues to advocate vigorously. Through persistent legal advocacy, emotional support, and coordination with HIAS’ social services program, our legal team helps program participants navigate life‑or‑death cases, avoid wrongful detention, and move from fear toward stability and safety.

Learn more about Legal Services in the U.S.

Amid sweeping anti-immigrant actions by the U.S. government, including halted refugee admissions, revoked legal statuses, and higher asylum burdens, HIAS’ Pro Bono Network continues providing vital legal services to displaced people in the U.S. With support from pro bono attorneys nationwide, HIAS serves refugees, asylum seekers, and displaced people under special humanitarian protection programs.

Our Pro Bono network assists program participants with green card applications, temporary protected status and residency, asylum applications, and U.S. citizenship. To strengthen legal capacity, HIAS offers training, office hours, research, and policy updates to volunteer attorneys. Pro bono partners contributed more than 18,000 hours of legal services, valued at over $18.6 million in 2025.

Learn more about HIAS' Pro Bono Network

HIAS provides holistic support to legal program participants through case management, therapy, volunteer services, in‑kind assistance, and the Asylee Outreach Project, an initiative to help asylees in the state of Maryland access the benefits to which they are entitled. HIAS is distinctive in offering both legal and social services throughout the long asylum process.

In response to policy shifts and rising anti-immigrant rhetoric, our team expanded outreach, partnerships, group programs, and mental health services. HIAS offers Know‑Your‑Rights materials, resilience workshops, and financial literacy sessions. As immigration enforcement increased in the New York and the D.C. areas, HIAS partnered with community groups to support accompaniment to ICE check-ins and court. New collaborations provide financial aid, vocational training, and bilingual mental health support. Our teams have also adapted refugee programs for asylum seekers, piloting new support models, expanding rental assistance, and improving safety tools.

Learn more about the Asylee Outreach Project

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HIAS’ services are free. If someone tries to charge you for services claiming they represent HIAS, please report it at our confidential email address: ethics@hias.org. HIAS has a zero-tolerance policy on fraud and corruption. 

For any other inquiries please email us at info@hias.org.

Together, we can help create a world in which refugees find welcome, safety, and opportunity.

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