Nashville, Tennessee, December 12, 2016 —  It is an honor to be here today. The people in this room represent so much that is good about America: pride in the ideals of the country; commitment to others; openness to the world. We are proud to share common cause with you.

We are meeting at a tumultuous time for the people we serve. There are more people are on the move than ever before, in every continent of the world. There are more threats to the safety of these people than ever before, from people smugglers seeking a profit, armed groups seeking to rule by terror, and sometimes from governments abusing their own people. There is more political polarization than ever before about whether as well as how to help these people - not just in Europe and America but also in Kenya, Pakistan and Lebanon. And as the scale and scope of this challenge becomes larger and more complex, there is more confusion about the right policy response.

In my experience, it is at times like this that NGOs are most needed. To see above the clamor and stand up for what is right; to establish sound principles; to defend core values; to put the needs of people first; to provide the practical solutions that people need. So my aims today are as follows:

IRC's Work

IRC brings distinctive history, perspective and focus to the challenges we face today. We were founded in the 1930s by Albert Einstein to bring European Jews to America. In the 1960s we expanded our work to help Cubans fleeing for America. In the 1990s we expanded our work to the former Yugoslavia, meeting needs in the Balkans until people were able to return home. Now we work across the arc of the global crisis of forced displacement, from war zones like Syria and Yemen to fragile states like Jordan and Pakistan to refugee transit routes like Greece and Niger to support for integration of refugees and immigrants in America.

Last year we helped 23 million people around the world. We provide water and sanitation in Niger; emergency aid in Nigeria; protection of women and girls in Pakistan; education in Lebanon; health care in Syria.

In the US we have offices in 29 cities. We resettled 13,000 refugees last year. And demand for the services we offer refugees - help with housing, education, employment, English language teaching, adjustment of status and citizenship services - is growing from other groups, particularly other vulnerable populations such as asylees and victims of trafficking. In the last five years, the IRC helped over 23,000 immigrants to naturalize as U.S. citizens, assisted 2,500 individuals with TPS to apply for reunification with their children through the Central American Minors resettlement program (the CAM-AOR), and assisted many more immigrants with family reunification and legal permanent residence. Since the start of the DACA program we have assisted around 1,000 young Dreamers to obtain Deferred Action. Nearly one in three of some 37,000 clients who benefitted from the IRC’s economic self-sufficiency, financial literacy, ESL, youth services, and community gardens programming last year did not arrive through the resettlement program.

We are here at this conference out of recognition that the neat boundaries of the last century don't fit the realities of this one. Organizations with their origins in helping refugees and groups founded to help immigrants need to work together, not just because needs overlap, not just because the public are confused about the distinctions, not just because of shared fears among immigrants and refugees, but also because of the shared principle we defend: the right of human beings to protection in the face of serious harm.

Global Leadership

Our work around the world shows this need in every continent. More people are fleeing violence than ever before. 25 million refugees and 40 million internally displaced at last year's count. But inherited assumptions don't fit the facts of the modern era. Most refugees are in cities not in camps. Most displaced people are not evacuated for a short time; in fact the majority don't go home. Millions of people are stateless, being born in countries where they have no entitlement to citizenship, while those living under the rule of non-state groups, like Isis/Daesh, find themselves similarly without the protections of a legitimate state.

So in our work from Syria to Zimbabwe to Greece to Myanmar we call for a breakdown of the old divide between development work and humanitarian work. We call for services to be based on the needs of people not the categories of bureaucracy. We call for an update in our work so that it promotes economic empowerment, not just provides humanitarian aid.

In this project the US government has good claim to be a world leader. For around one fifth of one per cent of national income, the work of international humanitarian and development aid from the US achieved some astonishing impact: US programs have improved the quality of education for nearly 12 million children and youth in conflict and crisis settings, while the scale of US disaster response is unparalleled: in 2015, USAID responded to 49 humanitarian emergencies in 45 countries, assisting tens of millions of disaster-affected individuals around the world—such as the 180,000 Syrians who got life-saving surgery. We’ve worked side-by-side with them in many of these crises.

US leadership abroad is based on the most important values we can show: compassion, justice, a hand up not just a hand out.

Leadership at Home

But US global leadership is also founded on setting an example here at home.

The best of US policy in protecting vulnerable children and adults here at home is core to the story and idea of this country. The rights to equal treatment; the commitment not to discriminate; the determination to uphold human dignity are what have provided not just a haven for generations, but at their best they are foundations for global stability and security, and a model for how to help people in need.

So our case is a moral one, but it is also a practical one. The protections offered to vulnerable people here are not only an example for the world. They have also been good for America. The case for the social and economic benefit of policies of protection and welcome as well as the national security arguments need to be made more clearly and more effectively than ever. Because they are being questioned more than ever.

Preparing for the Future

We are all preparing for the consequences of the election result. For some, policy directions have been clearly signaled. For others, the field is more open. Different organizations will want to use different tactics to represent different groups. IRC is not a political organization and our obligation is to bring our experience to the attention of policy makers and the public.

As we wait for the new Administration to enter office, I see three components to our approach as being especially important.

First, we need to be clear about our principles, and why they make the US system of protection strong.

None of these principles dispute the existence or importance of national borders. They insist instead that the maintenance of those borders be done in a way which respects human dignity. We should be the people that saying protection for the most vulnerable and national security, far from being incompatible, are both necessary and mutually reinforcing.

Second, we need to set out the facts about the US situation. You know the facts about immigration better than I; not many people know the facts about refugees.

Facts of course are worthless if they are not believed. Still worse is for them to be dismissed as propaganda and replaced as myths. We bear a special responsibility to dispel these myths. That is our biggest challenge.

Third, we need to work together in a way that builds our coalition and reframes the public argument – away from the statistics which can dehumanize people and towards the stories which show the true needs they have and the value of the work we do.

The power of our partnership can be seen when we do work together. 51 out of 52 state legislative bills to roll back refugee rights were not held at bay by accident; they were held back by new forms of organization and mobilization across traditional lines.

But in truth we need to work together more and better:

I hope that coming out of this conference we understand each other better; learn from each other more; and come out clearer about how to make a difference for the people we serve.

Conclusion 

People sometimes ask if this is a challenging time to lead an organization like the IRC. My answer is always the same. Nowhere near as challenging as it is for people outside this country seeking safety, or people in this country fearful for their safety.

The great danger of the current situation is that in the midst of statistics the human stories are lost. Our job is to bring those stories to the fore. Because they are the stories of successive waves of people who have come to this country - first to be met with concern, then with discrimination, then with tolerance, then with respect, and then with admiration.

The dentists from Aleppo; the runner from South Sudan; the student from Honduras. They are following in the footsteps of the leather worker fleeing pogroms in Eastern Europe, the agricultural worker fleeing famine in Ireland and the factory worker seeking a better life from Italy.

They are people who want to survive and thrive by making a better life, and show enormous courage to give themselves and their children a chance. It is our duty to cherish this ideal in the years ahead.