The Herreras eventually heard about the situation facing Ava’s son. Inspired to help, they researched the refugee process and learned about the Welcome Corps program, a private sponsorship initiative that began under former President Joe Biden’s administration. They and others quickly formed a sponsorship group for Ava’s son and dubbed it “Feed My Sheep,” a reference to the Bible.
“For us, it was more of a commitment of caring, a desire to do God’s work,” said Taryn, who noted that Feed My Sheep added Ava’s son to their group chats and were able to pray with him.
According to Matthew Soerens, vice president of advocacy and policy at World Relief, an evangelical Christian organization that partners with the government to resettle refugees, the Welcome Corps program was an “innovation” distinct from the existing refugee resettlement apparatus. It mimicked a similar policy in Canada: A group of U.S. citizens could, on their own, raise the funds needed to resettle a person who meets the criteria for refugee status — funds typically provided by the government and resettlement groups. Often, the result was a dramatically expedited process.
“It basically meant that people who might otherwise be waiting for decades could come to the United States because they had a sponsor — a private sponsorship group,” said Soerens, whose group assisted Feed My Sheep during parts of the process. World Relief encouraged churches to embrace the program, Soerens said, as part of its “mission of engaging churches,” even though his organization did not receive government funds for refugees resettled through the Welcome Corps initiative.
Taryn Herrera, a federal worker with experience in administration, was able to help Feed My Sheep members wade through the paperwork, but even with the benefits of the Welcome Corps initiative, there were setbacks. Last summer, she said, the group received word that a flight carrying Ava’s son into the U.S. was imminent, but the trip never materialized for reasons that remain unclear.
Then came the Trump administration’s decision to halt the refugee program entirely in January.
“We knew that the program would be affected, but we didn’t realize it would be affected so quickly,” Fernando said. “We were hoping that (Ava’s son) would be here by then.”
Myriad faith groups have criticized the Trump administration for freezing the refugee program as well as dismantling the largely faith-based refugee resettlement apparatus. Three religious groups have filed suit against the administration, winning legal victories advocates believe should have restarted the refugee program late last month.
But Ava, Taryn and Fernando said they have received no information indicating the resettlement process has been restarted. In addition, Soerens said his group has not resettled a single refugee since the pause.
Despite it all, Taryn and Fernando said they remain dedicated to helping Ava’s son.
