Los Angeles, CA

Refugees are people fleeing violence and persecution—in Syria, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Ukraine, and other countries in crisis. They have crossed an international border and are seeking safety and the chance to move their lives forward.

The U.S. has a long tradition of sheltering those fleeing conflict and persecution. Once refugees have been identified by the United Nations refugee agency and cleared for resettlement, the U.S. government works with the IRC and eight other national resettlement agencies to help them restart their lives in America. Out of the nearly 30 million refugees in the world, fewer than one percent are considered for resettlement worldwide.

Refugees may be placed in a city where they have relatives or friends, or where there’s an established community that shares their language or culture. Other considerations include the cost of living and a community’s ability to provide medical services. But as legal U.S. residents, refugees may live in any city and state they chose.

Learn more about how refugee resettlement works.

As refugees arrive in Los Angeles to start a new life, they are most in need of financial and vocational support. The primary desire of newly-arrived refugees is to gain the ability to provide for themselves and their families as they establish themselves in California. Immediate needs include finding affordable housing, a job, learning English and learning to navigate the local environment. For families, those needs can also include helping their children adjust to a new school. 

Our programs are designed to ensure refugees thrive in America—whether ensuring children are enrolled in school, adults become self-reliant through employment or starting businesses, or families receive the medical care they need to recover from trauma or illness. The IRC helps those in need to rebuild their lives and regain control of their future in their new home community.

Refugees are greeted and welcomed at the airport by IRC case workers and volunteers to ensure their transition is as comfortable as possible. The IRC also makes sure newly arrived refugees receive:

• Help with rent
• Help furnishing a home
• Health care
• Nutritious, affordable food
• English language classes
• Help building job, computer, and financial literacy skills
• Education for their children
• Social services and community support
• Legal services towards residency and citizenship

Our programs in Los Angeles include Reception and Placement, Integration, Immigration, and Community Engagement. 

• Reception & Placement: Meeting the basic needs for food, shelter, access to health care and assistance with navigating government agencies in the early, critical stages of resettlement. Outside of casework, our R&P consists of a health program, housing program, intensive case management program, and employment program.
  • Health: Beginning in 2023, the IRC in Los Angeles piloted its refugee health program. Health navigators help enroll clients in MediCal, find a medical home or mental health provider, and navigate urgent health issues.
  • Housing: Housing remains one of the greatest challenges facing refugee resettlement in Los Angeles. Our team helps secure short-term and long-term housing for our clients.
  • Intensive Case Management: Resettlement agencies are only able to provide initial resettlement services for 90 days. Often, clients have long-term needs that go beyond the initial resettlement period. ICM helps families with complex or long-term case management needs, such as health issues.
  • Employment: Our employment specialist helps clients with building their resume, practicing interviews, and finding full or part time employment. The IRC also provides weekly employment readiness classes.
• Integration: Our integration department includes many programs which include Adult Education, Economic Empowerment, Case Management Pilot Program (CMPP) Unaccompanied Minors Programs (HSPRS)
  • Adult Education: The IRC in Los Angeles provides virtual and in-person ESL classes at the literacy, beginner, and conversational levels Monday-Friday. We also provide virtual and in-person citizenship classes throughout the community, helping newcomers become our newest Americans. 
  • Economic Empowerment: The IRC in Los Angeles helps refugees, asylees, and immigrants gain financial literacy skills by providing one-on-one financial counseling sessions; which include how to build a budget, managing credit, and how to open a bank account. In addition to financial literacy, the economic empowerment team provides micro-loans – mainly for credit building, but also buying a car, paying for rent, or immigration services. In June 2023, the IRC in Los Angeles launched its Afghan Youth Success program for women ages 15-24. It will include a financial literacy curriculum and 1:1 financial coaching, along with workforce development, leadership skills, and creating a supportive group to help members achieve their goals. 
  • HSPRS: The IRC in Los Angeles provides case management services to minors who have crossed the border alone, mainly from the Northern Triangle – Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, but also Afghanistan and Ukraine. The children are released from immigrant detention into the care of a sponsor. The IRC’s Child Protection Caseworkers provide post-release services (HSPRS) including home visits, family reunification assistance, school enrollment, health navigation, mental health referrals, and connection to pro-bono legal services. In 2023, the IRC expanded its UC program and is now serving over 250 UCs and their sponsor families
  • CMPP: The Asylum Seeker Case Management Pilot Program (CMPP) is a case management program for people seeking asylum and other protections in removal proceedings. Case management services are tailored to individual needs and include mental health care, human trafficking screening, legal information and referrals, and connections with other community-based services, as well as repatriation support as appropriate.
  • CA WLPP: The Workforce Literacy Pilot Program (WLPP) provides workforce literacy training in English, math and digital skills, as well as workforce preparation activities, and technical skills for immigrants, refugees, and other English Language Learners. WLPP prioritizes training that includes complementary occupation--specific contextualized literacy along with technical skills training leading to industry-recognized credentials or certifications. 
• Immigration: Over the past several years, the IRC in Los Angeles has begun providing increased immigration services to the community, including green card applications and adjustment of status, family reunification, refugee travel documents, DACA renewals, U and T Visas, and primarily, naturalization. The IRC in LA has a unique partnership with the LAPL, where it provides legal services to immigrants in three different sites throughout the community. In 2024, our Immigration team provided 650 legal consultations to refugees, asylees, SIVs, parolees and other immigrant populations in Los Angeles.
• Community Integration and Development: Strengthening communities and preparing individuals to participate fully in American society.

In addition to supporting refugees, the IRC also works with asylees, special immigrant visas (SIVs) and trafficking survivors. The IRC in Los Angeles provides services for those who have recently been granted status by the U.S. government, as well as services for those who have been in the country for a number of years and are ready to apply for permanent residence or citizenship. 

Our Immigration department provides low cost assistance in applying for Legal Permanent Resident cards, U.S. Citizenship, Refugee Travel documents, DACA renewal, and Central American Minor- Affidavits of Relationships (CAM-AOR), as well as various other immigration documents. Our Integration department provides Financial Coaching, Micro-loans, and an Afghan Youth Mentorship program. They also provide weekly ESL classes and Citizenship classes, remote and in-person (at the IRC office and in public libraries), available free of charge to immigrants throughout the area. 

There are many ways that you can get involved with the IRC’s work in Los Angeles. You can:

Donate: Give a tax-deductible financial contribution either via the website or sent to our office. If you are interested in donating items, please contact [email protected] 

Wish-list: Help provide a warm welcome by donating urgently needed Household Goods, School Supplies, and Hygiene Items for newly arrived refugees from our Amazon Wishlist. Urgently needed items include bedding, pots and pans, and gift cards. We also have plenty of Welcome Kit ideas, which are a great way to get involved as a group, office, faith group, or classroom. If you are interested in putting together a Welcome Kit drive, please email [email protected].

Volunteer Opportunities: Read the steps you need to go through to become an IRC volunteer and see our current list of volunteer opportunities here.

Internship Opportunities: Internships are a great way for students to gain experience in the field of refugee resettlement and immigration. See our current list of internship opportunities here. 

Employing Refugees: Looking for dedicated, skilled, & diverse employees? We connect businesses with refugee talent. If you’d like to partner with us to provide employment for refugees, please contact IRCLA’s Employment Specialist: Mawada Ibrahim, [email protected] (747)331-1580

Housing: One of the greatest challenges to resettling refugees is securing affordable housing. If you are a landlord, or know anyone who is, consider renting to a recently arrived refugee.

Spread the Word: Consider hosting your own Fundraising Campaign (on- or offline). Stay connected by following us on Instagram, Facebook, Linkedin, and ask others to do the same!

Once they acclimate to their new environment, refugees often thrive and contribute to their communities, building careers, purchasing homes and becoming citizens.