By Tiffany Stanley and Peter Smith, Associated Press
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
