8 U.S.C. § 1521: Office of Refugee Resettlement; establishment; appointment of Director; functions

There is established, within the Department of Health and Human Services, an office to be known as the Office of Refugee Resettlement (hereinafter in this subchapter referred to as the “Office”). The head of the Office shall be a Director (hereinafter in this subchapter referred to as the “Director”), to be appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (hereinafter in this subchapter referred to as the “Secretary”). The function of the Office and its Director is to fund and administer (directly or through arrangements with other Federal agencies), in consultation with the Secretary of State, programs of the Federal Government under this subchapter. the Congress declares that it is the historic policy of the United States to respond to the urgent needs of persons subject to persecution in their homelands, including, where appropriate, humanitarian assistance for their care and maintenance in asylum areas, efforts to promote opportunities for resettlement or voluntary repatriation, aid for necessary transportation and processing, admission to this country of refugees of special humanitarian concern to the United States, and transitional assistance to refugees in the United States. The Congress further declares that it is the policy of the United States to encourage all nations to provide assistance and resettlement opportunities to refugees to the fullest extent possible. The objectives of this Act [see Short Title of 1980 Amendment note set out under section 1101 of this title ] are to provide a permanent and systematic procedure for the admission to this country of refugees of special humanitarian concern to the United States, and to provide comprehensive and uniform provisions for the effective resettlement and absorption of those refugees who are admitted.”