Resettling in Ithaca: How Ithaca Welcomes Refugees Supports our Refugee Community
By TIP Service Learning Chairs Calista Oria & Chloe Koo
By TIP Service Learning Chairs Calista Oria & Chloe Koo
Migration has long been a central aspect of the human experience. People move for a range of reasons, whether it be to seek better opportunities, reunite with family, or pursue personal enrichment. However, migration does not always occur by choice. Sometimes, people move not because they want to, but because they are forcibly displaced. Migrants who move involuntarily are formally recognized as refugees — individuals who must flee their country of residence due to persecution, war, or violence on the basis of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group (The UN Refugee Agency, n.d.).
As of June 2025, over 117 million people worldwide have been forced to migrate, with 49.36 million identifying as refugees or asylum seekers (The UN Refugee Agency, n.d.). Approximately 69% of the refugee population in the U.S. comes from one of five countries: Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Syria, or Burma (National Immigration Forum, 2025).
Despite thousands of people turning to the U.S. for international protection every year (USAFacts, n.d.), accessibility to said protections is sparse. Historically, the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), formed under the 1980 Refugee Act, served as the principal framework for the refugee admission and resettlement process (National Immigration Forum, 2025). Upon the issuing of Executive Order 14163 on January 20, 2025, the program has since been suspended, largely halting the entry of most refugee populations and severely limiting resettlement assistance for refugees (National Immigration Forum, 2025). The disassembly of USRAP has had a ripple effect on refugee experiences in the U.S., inciting increased pressure, uncertainty, and hardship among refugees in the U.S.
The Ithaca community — which, according to 2017-2021 U.S. Census Bureau Data, ranked 1st out of 385 metro areas in percentage of migrants represented in its overall population (Adams, 2023) — has spearheaded efforts to alleviate the adversities refugees and immigrants face. At the forefront of this movement is Ithaca Welcomes Refugees (IWR). Founded in 2015, IWR stepped in as a non-profit to support refugee resettlement along with Catholic Charities, which was at the time a federally-designated refugee resettlement agency. Now IWR is the main organization helping refugees and immigrants in the Tompkins community resettle and rebuild their lives.
We had the privilege of interviewing IWR’s Programs Coordinator Leigh Bacher (Cornell Class of 1988) to learn more about IWR and her goals for the future of this program.
Leigh shared that IWR currently partners with 94 people living in 29 households to provide aid in an array of areas, from move-in assistance to sourcing food to offering transportation services. At the heart of the organization’s operations is what she describes as a comprehensive “relationship-based model” that relies heavily on volunteers and other partnering organizations — such as Catholic Charities, Open Doors English, TCAT, and Tompkins Learning Partners — to maximize its impact.
As IWR’s Programs Coordinator, Leigh oversees the coordination of volunteer response teams (small groups matched with households to aid in their transition to life in the U.S.), guiding them in finding resources, troubleshooting challenges, and leading cultural orientation. Looking ahead, she aims to expand partnerships with local employers and enhance job search resources to further broaden the organization’s reach.
When asked about the most pertinent needs of the refugee and immigrant community today, Leigh underscored, “The major needs of our refugee and immigrant partners are: affordable housing, employment, and legal advice. Other needs often include access to transportation, food security, language learning opportunities, and finding health care.”
Leigh also noted the significance of community connections in fostering security and predictability in refugees’ and immigrants’ lives. She implored Cornell students to reach out to and assist refugee and immigrant support organizations back at home, or even support local agencies here in Ithaca, such as IWR, by donating time, material goods, and/or funds.
Most importantly, she emphasized that advocacy for immigration policy reform is the keystone for improving refugees’ and immigrants’ quality of life: “New and harsh policies [that infringe on refugee admission and resettlement] continue to be proposed… The wonderful community support for [IWR’s] work enables us to meet most needs, but we find ourselves often stretched.”
It is through these combined efforts of practical support for immediate needs and larger commitment to systemic fairness that true community integration becomes possible. This collective investment ensures that our neighbors aren’t just residing in Ithaca for temporary protection but are truly at home here, supported by a community that values their presence.
Plug for IWR as a Separate Section @ Bottom:
As a language-advocacy-centered program on Cornell’s campus, the Translator Interpreter Program (TIP) hopes to see our volunteer base continue to utilize their language skills to promote language accessibility. Ithaca Welcomes Refugees is one of our community partners, and getting involved with their work — either through TIP as a translator or interpreter or by directly volunteering for or donating to IWR — is a fantastic opportunity to make a difference for refugees and immigrants in the local community. IWR is incredibly grateful for TIP and other language services in Ithaca that are crucial to the successful resettlement of new members of our community.
Please refer to the IWR website to learn more.
References:
Adams, M. (2023). Ithaca leads country in migrant population percentage. 607 news now. https://607newsnow.com/news/258852-025520-ithaca-leads-country-in-migrant-population-percentage/
National Immigration Forum. (2025). Fact sheet: U.S. refugee resettlement. National Immigration Forum. https://forumtogether.org/article/fact-sheet-u-s-refugee-resettlement/
The UN Refugee Agency. (n.d.). What is a refugee? US for UNHCR. https://www.unrefugees.org/refugee-facts/what-is-a-refugee/
USAFacts. (n.d.). How many asylum applications does the US receive? USAFacts. https://usafacts.org/answers/how-many-asylum-applications-does-the-us-receive/country/united-states/
Calista is one of the Co-Service Learning Chairs for Cornell’s Translator-Interpreter Program. She is a junior studying Industrial and Labor Relations, interested in pursuing a career in human resources post-graduation. In her free time, Calista likes to make Spotify playlists, learn traditional Filipino dance, and play tennis. She is also learning Filipino/Tagalog at Cornell with Professor Savella!
Chloe is one of the Co-Service Learning Chairs for Cornell’s Translator-Interpreter Program. She is a junior studying Global Public Health Sciences at CALS and is planning on pursuing a career in dentistry. Chloe enjoys running, painting her nails, and hanging out with friends when she’s not studying. She is also fluent in Korean :)