The Work of Welcoming: A Look at Compassion of Resettlement Team Members in Assisting Refugee Clients’ Adjustment to the US

This study explored the self-reflections, motivations, goals, and reactions from refugee resettlement team members enduring unexpected changes with the realignment of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program over time and in the first months of the second Trump presidency. Using in-depth interviews with staff in refugee resettlement organizations in the Metro Atlanta area and prior experience working in the refugee community, I share the motivations and lived experiences of people working in refugee resettlement, which fit into a framework of the ‘humanitarian imaginary’.