Refugee resettlement agencies scramble after Trump orders them to halt their federally funded work

Associated Press

29-01-2025

WASHINGTON (AP) — Tens of thousands of recently arrived refugees might lose support for basic necessities like food and rent after a Trump administration order suspended federal funding for resettlement agencies.
There is widespread confusion as agency leaders seek greater clarity from the government. The most pressing question is how they will continue supporting refugees already under their care in the United States.
The suspension of federal funding 'paralyzes the program,' said Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, president and CEO of Global Refuge, the national Lutheran refugee resettlement agency.
The federal refugee program — a form of legal migration to the U.S. — has been in place for decades and assists those who have escaped war, natural disaster or persecution. Despite longstanding support for accepting refugees, the program has become politicized in recent years.
Religious organizations shoulder the bulk of refugee resettlement work in the United States. Out of the 10 federally funded national agencies that resettle refugees, seven are faith-based.
'We're not getting any useful guidance from the government right now,' said Mark Hetfield, president of HIAS, the Jewish refugee resettlement agency. Most of the organization's budget is from federal funding.
'We will fight the government on this,' Hetfield said.
The Trump administration has halted new refugee admissions. But some refugee-agency leaders say last Friday's 'stop work' order goes a step further, and they assume it will affect refugees in the U.S., who rely on federal funds for housing, food and support during their first three months in the country.
This foreign assistance was stopped before the Trump administration tried to pause all federal grants and loans on Tuesday. Both directives are part of an ideological review of government spending.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio agreed Tuesday to at least temporarily keep spending money on 'life-saving' humanitarian aid. On Wednesday morning, it was still not clear to refugee agencies whether they would receive such a waiver or whether the government would continue funding their U.S. programs.
Resettlement agencies are trying to honor their commitments — and keep paying their staffs and administrative costs. But their reserves and private donations will have difficulty matching millions in lost federal funding, if indeed it has all stopped.
'Now we're in a difficult situation with thousands of individuals we have already settled in communities in the United States,' said Matthew Soerens, vice president of advocacy and policy for World Relief, an evangelical resettlement agency.
'Our goal of initial assistance is to get them on a relatively quick path to economic self-sufficiency — working, able to cover their own expenses,' he said.
World Relief has been fundraising to help with rent and other services for new arrivals.
A funding shortage 'will actually be harmful to communities that have received these individuals, because they won't have the support to integrate as quickly as they should,' Soerens said.
What did the stop-work order say?
A Jan. 24 letter sent to one of the resettlement agencies from the State Department stated that its resettlement grant funding is 'immediately suspended' pending a review of foreign assistance programs, which President Donald Trump ordered over a 90-day period. The letter — from the department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration — said a decision would then be made on whether the funding would be restored, altered or cut entirely.
The agency must immediately 'stop all work' and 'not incur any new costs' under the grant. The letter said the agency 'must cancel as many outstanding obligations as possible.'
Other agencies reported receiving similarly worded directives.
The same grants also fund the initial resettlement costs of those arriving with Special Immigrant Visas, most of whom are Afghans who helped the U.S. military effort in Afghanistan, along with their families. That's a different category from refugees, but the same grants fund assistance with both.
Leaders of religious organizations react to the directive
U.S. religious groups have been resettling refugees for more than a hundred years. Today there are national agencies with Catholic, Jewish and Protestant roots.
'For so many of us, welcoming the stranger is a core tenet of why we do this work,' said Vignarajah of Global Refuge, citing biblical mandates.
Church World Service helps to resettle about 12% of refugees nationwide — some 12,000 in the last fiscal year, said its senior vice president, Erol Kekic.
'It really is a bridge to self-sufficiency,' Kekic said of the services for which federal funding is now apparently paused. He estimates about 4,000 refugees served by his organization would be affected.
Refugees undergo an extensive vetting process.
'President Trump has said he will defend persecuted Christians,' said Soerens of World Relief. 'And the U.S. refugee resettlement program is one of the primary ways that the U.S. government protects Christians and others fleeing persecution.'
Mission Adelante, a World Relief affiliate organization in Kansas City, Kansas, sent a letter Monday seeking to raise $70,000 to meet the basic needs of 22 families it is serving through a program that supports newly arrived refugees. It dubbed the campaign the 'Love Mercy Initiative.'
'When the government abandons its commitment to the vulnerable, the church must step in to fill the gap,' wrote Jarrett Meek, the group's founder and executive director.
How many people could this affect?
This order stands to affect at least 26,494 refugees and recipients of Special Immigrant Visas, and almost certainly more, according to an analysis of government statistics.
The order pertains to grants that fund resettlement of newly arrived refugees within the first three months of their time in the United States.
In November and December — both within the current three-month period — some 19,679 refugees and 6,815 SIV recipients were resettled in the United States, according to the federal Refugee Processing Center. It has not yet provided statistics on January resettlements, who would also be affected. Some arrivals in late October, also within the three-month window, could also be affected.
Refugee program remains politicized, despite longstanding support
Refugee admissions plummeted during the previous Trump administration. The U.S. admitted about 11,000 refugees during the last year of his first term – the fewest in the program's history. Former President Joe Biden rebuilt the program, admitting nearly 100,000 refugees last year, a three-decade high.
A 2022 Pew Research Center survey showed broad support for refugee resettlement among the U.S. population overall and among evangelicals, a core Trump constituency. About two-thirds of white evangelicals said it was at least 'somewhat important' for the U.S. to take in refugees, as did four-fifths of Hispanic evangelicals, according to Pew.
Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic, criticized his church's role in immigration advocacy on CBS' Face the Nation on Sunday.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops helps resettle refugees and has been critical of Trump's immigration policies. Vance suggested the bishops were in it for the money.
'Are they worried about humanitarian concerns or are they actually worried about their bottom line?' Vance said.
In a brief statement Sunday, while not referring directly to Vance, the USCCB said it has been partnering with the federal government since 1980 on refugee resettlement.
'In our agreements with the government, the USCCB receives funds to do this work; however, these funds are not sufficient to cover the entire cost of these programs,' the statement said. 'Nonetheless, this remains a work of mercy and ministry of the Church.'
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