NORTH DAKOTA (KXNET) — According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, over 89 million people around the world have been forced to flee their homes.

But now we, as North Dakotans, can step up and help give our fellow humans a way to escape their troubles.

The challenge of migration is not unique to the United States or border communities that deal with this issue every day and around the world, there are more displaced people than ever before.

With refugee resettlement organizations stretched thin, state departments across the country are looking to make it easier for Americans anywhere to sponsor refugees from abroad and help them resettle in the U.S.

And a private sponsorship program, known as the Welcome Corps is now giving refugees the chance to experience the American dream.

Prior to the Welcome Corps, state departments relied on refugee resettlement organizations to do this work.

“There are 2.5 million Venezuelans now living in Colombia and 1.5 million in Peru. Brazil and Chile are hosting more than 350,000 Haitians, and the number of displaced Nicaraguans in Costa Rica has more than doubled in the last 12 months alone,” said Homeland Security Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas.

The new pilot program is modeled by previous efforts to relocate Afghans who were evacuated last year and Ukrainians fleeing the war in their country.