The refugee resettlement community in Georgia is remembering former President Jimmy Carter’s legacy in expanding refugee protections in the United States and setting the stage for metro Atlanta’s large resettlement coalition.
In 1980, on the heels of the Vietnam War, Carter signed legislation establishing the Federal Refugee Resettlement Program, increasing how many refugees could come to the U.S. and allowing for that number to be adjusted based on world events.
“That act wasn’t only a policy decision,” said Muzhda Oriakhil, a chair of the Atlanta-based Coalition of Refugee Service Agencies, one of the largest resettlement resource groups in the country.
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