In the run-up to the 2020 United States presidential election, the International Rescue Committee asked the refugees and immigrants that we serve why voting is important to them.

Mandy Patinkin, IRC Ambassador, talked with Syrian refugee and new U.S. citizen Shadi Ismail on Instagram Live about why voting matters and the refugee resettlement experience in the U.S. This year, Shadi voted for the first time as an American citizen, casting his ballot in the 2020 presidential election.

Six years after Iraqi refugee Maha al-Obaidi resettled in the United States, her family remains divided. While three of her sons are thriving alongside her in New York, two others, her husband and a grandson are still in the Middle East.

The IRC’s CEO and president, David Miliband, shares why it’s critical that we stand with refugees and asylum seekers. 

Bothina Matar, who fled the war in Syria in 2015, describes the situation her family is facing and her message to the president-elect: “I hope he will keep his promises.”

“I’m proud to support the IRC because they put the people they serve at the center of everything they do.” Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton has a special message for you this holiday season. Join her and donate to the IRC today. 

Sting, Keegan-Michael Key, Noma Dumezweni and other IRC Celebrity Ambassadors share why they are proud supporters of the IRC’s work with refugee families in the world’s toughest places. Join them by making a gift today.

A Syrian refugee father and son explain what the IRC's services have meant to them.