In one of his first sweeping immigration actions, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to suspend the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, a decades-long inter-agency effort to identify and vet people fleeing conflict or persecution for resettlement in the country.
Refugee resettlement agencies with sites in Texas say the order could result in an indefinite halt to critical humanitarian efforts, which have previously enjoyed bipartisan support.
The order cited “significant influxes of migrants” — which include more than just refugees — to American cities and towns, naming those that have become political flashpoints such as Whitewater, Wis. and Springfield, Ohio.
“The United States lacks the ability to absorb large numbers of migrants, and in particular, refugees, into its communities in a manner that does not compromise the availability of resources for Americans, that protects their safety and security, and that ensures the appropriate assimilation of refugees,” it said.
Before the order took effect, the Trump administration had already canceled travel plans for thousands of refugees who were approved to fly to the U.S. Amid abrupt changes, groups said they are hustling to prepare.
“It’s been incredibly disturbing frankly to see the impact of the actions so swiftly,” said Danilo Zak, policy director for the Church World Service, a faith-based refugee resettlement agency.
Zak told The Dallas Morning News his organization had over 60 refugees scheduled for travel to Texas. This group includes several people who finally had their security cleared and flights booked after waiting over a decade in the resettlement process, he said.
These individuals could now be more at risk. When refugees book their resettlement flights, they move, sell their belongings, or even deregister from the country where they have been staying while going through the vetting process, according to him.
“A sudden cancellation like this can really throw people’s lives in even more disarray and put them in even greater danger,” Zak added. “Many of these people remain extremely vulnerable in places where they are in. That’s one of the reasons they’ve been determined to be eligible for resettlement.”
Beyond his group, it’s not clear how many of the refugees affected by the travel cancelations were bound for Texas, a state that is a major hub for resettlement.
Close to 9,800 refugees landed in the state during the last fiscal year, making it the top destination in the U.S., according to the Refugee Processing Center, which is part of the U.S. Department of State. The data show they came from all over the world, though refugees from Venezuela, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Afghanistan make up more than half of that population.
Many more refugees without travel plans are also stuck, according to these groups.
The executive order halts the entire refugee admission pipeline, which means no new applications will be accepted and there will be no interviews or case processing.
U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, said in a Thursday statement to The News that his office is working with “a number of refugees at the request of veterans and relatives” in his district. These individuals were completing the final steps to be approved for relocation, though their future is uncertain because of the executive order.
“[T]hey are among the 10,000 Afghans that Trump’s cruel action has left in limbo,” Doggett said, including those who assisted the U.S. during the war in Afghanistan.
In addition, the executive order gives state and local governments a role in determining the placement of refugees in their jurisdictions.
In 2020, Texas was the first state to opt out of the refugee resettlement program, after Trump signed an executive order requiring agencies to have states and local governments’ written consent before they can move refugees there.
At the time, Gov. Greg Abbott cited a need to “dedicate available resources to those who are already here” and the “disproportionate migration issues” that the state was already dealing with. The News asked Abbott’s office for comment about the latest executive order through emails and calls Friday and Sunday, but didn’t receive a response.
The News also contacted the office of U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz — a Texas Republican who has previously filed bills to give states the ability to refuse refugees in certain cases — which declined to comment at this time.
A potentially indefinite pause
For refugee settlement agencies, Trump’s executive order is disheartening and full of uncertainty.
These agencies said the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, established in 1980, previously enjoyed bipartisan support. They also emphasized that refugees, who are often fleeing violence and persecution, have to go through intensive screenings in another country before they could be approved to be resettled in the U.S. — a process that could take years.
“[The USRAP] is, in many ways, the gold standard of legal pathways,” said Timothy Young, a spokesperson for Global Refuge, a refugee resettlement agency.
On the other hand, the agencies said this decision is unsurprising because the first Trump administration halted the program for 120 days in 2017, among a slew of other actions that sharply reduced refugee admissions.
These groups and policy watchers said the new program suspension could be indefinite because its resumption is based on the president’s determination of whether “the USRAP is in the interests of the United States.” The executive order also requires the secretaries of the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State to submit a report every 90 days assessing that question.
“I imagine it’s heartbreaking for people and it’s just not clear what comes next,” said Julia Gelatt, the Migration Policy Institute’s associate director of the U.S. Immigration Policy Program.
“It’s quite uncertain if it will be resumed, how it will be resumed and what the numbers will look like.”
Zak, with the Church World Service, added that the executive order allows for possible exemptions on a case-by-case basis, but this process has no clear guidelines. According to the order, these cases are up to the discretion of the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security.
What’s clearer at this moment for these agencies and policy watchers is the broad impact this suspension could inflict on the refugee system.
An already rigorous screening process is expected to be even longer for many refugees because security and medical clearances can expire, said Melissa Keaney, a senior supervising attorney with the International Refugee Assistance Project, a rights organization. For instance, she said some of the group’s clients still have not yet been resettled after being blocked in 2017.
Keaney said her organization is once again assessing its legal options, having challenged the first Trump administration’s efforts.
At the same time, there are worries a potentially indefinite program suspension could decimate local service providers because much of the federal government funding they receive is tied to the number of refugees they support. For instance, more than 130 affiliates across the country effectively stopped operating due to the drop of refugees admitted under the first Trump administration and the resulting fall in funding, according to Gelatt.
“That was a big challenge when President [Joe] Biden came in to try to rebuild the refugee resettlement program,” Gelatt said.
‘Stand united’
In the meantime, these groups said they are continuing to advocate for their clients and the refugee system.
“This doesn’t change how we work at the [International Rescue Committee],” said Faith Akovi Cooper, a director overseeing the refugee resettlement agency’s southern border region. “As a matter of fact, I think it encourages us to push harder for our clients to be resettled, to push harder for the administration to rethink this position.”
Agencies said their local service providers are still working to support refugees who have already arrived in Texas.
The International Rescue Committee’s Dallas Office said in a public statement Friday that in the past year, the group assisted more than 1,000 refugees in the city through its resettlement, education and economic assistance programs. It said this commitment doesn’t change with the new executive order.
“We call on our community to stand united during this time,” the group said.
