REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsCompanies Accenture PLC FollowAirbnb Inc FollowAlphabet Inc Follow Show more companiesWASHINGTON, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Chief executives from a wide array of U.S. companies will meet White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients on Thursday to discuss refugee resettlement and sponsorship programs, a White House official said. The CEOs will include Alphabet's Sundar Pichai, Walmart's Doug McMillon, Pfizer's Albert Bourla, HP's Enrique Lores and others. They are part of a council of leaders affiliated with Welcome.US, a group dedicated to helping support refugees in the United States. They will meet Zients and other White House officials "to discuss specific ways we can continue to work together to support safe, orderly pathways for people in need of safety to come to the United States, including through refugee resettlement and new, expanded humanitarian sponsorship programs," a White House official told Reuters. The White House, which says it wants to partner with the private sector to build a humane immigration system, worked with Welcome.US to help Afghan refugees coming to the United States after Biden pulled U.S. troops out of Afghanistan in 2021.

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Persons: Annegret, Jeff Zients, Alphabet's Sundar Pichai, Doug McMillon, Pfizer's Albert Bourla, HP's Enrique Lores, Richard Dickson, Julie Sweet, David Risher, Hamdi Ulukaya, Mike Sievert, Goldman Sachs, Kathy Hochul, Zients, Biden, Donald Trump, Welcome.US, Jeff Mason, Christian Schmollinger Organizations: Google, Arena, REUTERS, Accenture, White, Welcome.US, Reuters, Lyft, Mobile, Blackstone, Comcast, Meta, Republicans, Democrat, Republican, Biden, Thomson Locations: Berlin, Germany, WASHINGTON, United States, Airbnb, New, New York City, United, Afghanistan