Integration through insurgency: opposing approaches to refugee resettlement in major resettlement sites

Supporting refugee resettlement in the USA requires a network of actors, including, but not limited to, local resettlement agencies, local and county governments (LCGs), and ethnic community-based organizations (ECBOs). Through a qualitative study, we explore how LCGs manage diverse communities by examining how they plan for immigrants and refugees through immigrant welcoming work. We also consider ECBO’s response to and role in this work. Findings show that leaders from ECBOs utilize tenets of insurgent planning in their work, while governments take more top-down approaches. We call for the engagement and representation of ECBOs, which can help to improve the civic dimensions of resettlement in the USA.