Organizations that help refugees settle in the Mountain West are navigating two orders from the Trump administration which they say are affecting people around the world – and those living here in the U.S.
On his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to suspend refugee resettlement, saying the U.S. lacks the ability to absorb large numbers of migrants, including refugees. He also directed the Secretary of Homeland Security to draft a report within 90 days about whether the program – established by Congress in 1980 – should resume.
A few states in the Mountain West have historically welcomed high rates of refugees, including Idaho, Arizona, Utah and Colorado. Those arriving in recent months included people fleeing armed conflict and persecution in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar and Afghanistan.
Now, with flights indefinitely halted, many refugees already living here are again waiting to be reunited with relatives. The in-depth screenings can take several years, and for those who have already cleared the hurdles, it’s unclear when they would be able to resume the process, even if the order is reversed, said Jaime Koehler Blanchard, the refugee resettlement program director at Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mountains in Denver, which serves refugees in Colorado, New Mexico and Montana.
According to data she shared, about 60% of people already approved to arrive through the organization’s Denver office have a close relative – a sibling, parent, child, or uncle – already in the U.S. waiting for them. More have distant family members or friends.
“They had their travel booked; they were ready to go,” Blanchard said. “They had probably not seen their family members in years, and so that was just a devastating thing to happen to those families to now be apart for an undetermined amount of time.”
On top of the halt to new arrivals, refugee resettlement organizations that contract with the federal government are also facing a stop-work order, relating to a larger pause on foreign aid.
The memo instructed them to cease spending federal grant dollars meant to help refugees integrate into U.S. communities in their first three months, such as by helping secure jobs and housing.
“We have to put a ready-to-eat meal into the apartment when they arrive so they have food, we help them with grocery shopping, we help register the children for school, we get the adults into English classes,” Blanchard said.
Now her organization and others are turning to private funding sources in order to continue providing services.
“It doesn't fully replace what our clients are losing,” she said.
Amid the funding uncertainty, several refugee resettlement organizations around the country have laid off staff.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
