On his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to suspend the United States Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP).
The executive order cut all federal funding to refugee resettlement programs indefinitely, and paused any plans to relocate new refugees.
That has left organizations that help refugees, like the American Civic Association in Binghamton, with no federal funding. The ACA helps immigrants and refugees find housing, employment and education in New York's Southern Tier.
Organizations can still dip into state funding or private donations to continue offering services. ACA Executive Director Husein Adams said they are depending on both.
“Services are continuing,” Adams said. “It's just that we can't use federal money or receive federal money to assist them. We have thousands of refugees that are here that need help going forward, especially in the remaining winter months.”
With the executive order in place, the organization can no longer help resettle any new refugees. Adams said they can only support the refugees who have already made it here, and even that is uncertain.
“We had to do some juggling. We had previous donations that we had collected, we immediately tapped into that,” Adams said. “But long term, what the concern and the challenge is moving ahead, what is six months from now going to look like? What is a year, two years from now going to look like?”
The ACA offers English language classes, legal help, and translation services. Staff members help refugees find housing, clothes, food, and employment. The ACA also runs a five-year support program for refugees to help them with job preparation and placement.
In the last fiscal year, Adams said the organization has helped about 100 new refugees resettle, and it continues to support hundreds of clients who have successfully settled in the area but still access services.
“We're not talking about future assurances that we were hoping and planning for,” Adams said. “We're talking about refugees that are currently in the United States, that are working, that are living, that are already part of the society."
Adams said throughout New York, refugee programs have resettled over 32,000 refugees in this fiscal year. He said the refugees they work with are fleeing war, violence and persecution. They have gone through extensive screening and background checks before coming to the country, and they are legally allowed to resettle and find work.
“A very stringent vetting process takes place outside of the United States. So when refugees come into the country, they're coming in with status, they're coming in with work authorization,” Adams said. “They're coming in ready to give to this economy and contribute to society. And it's heartbreaking and really unfortunate that this population is first targeted.”
Adams said refugees resettled in recent years include people fleeing war in Ukraine and Afghans who helped the U.S. government and military before the Taliban took control of the country.
“They were promised legal status after assisting the United States in war efforts abroad,” Adams said. “And it's just a bad, just a horrible reflection upon us as a country.”
The executive order involves a 90-day review period, after which the secretary of Homeland Security will submit a report to the president weighing in on whether resuming the program “would be in the interests of the United States.”
“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,” the executive order states.
The order says the program should be restructured “to admit only those refugees who can fully and appropriately assimilate into the United States.”
Refugee households in New York earned an estimated $6.2 billion annually and contribute roughly $2 billion in federal, state and local taxes, according to the New American Economy.
Democratic Congressman Josh Riley, who represents New York’s 19th Congressional District, said he does not support “eliminating successful programs that provide a legal means of migration, especially for those who put their lives on the line to help American service members abroad.”
“The United States committed to protecting these individuals. Any effort to break those promises is a threat to national security, and I will not support it,” Riley wrote. “Applicants to the Refugee Resettlement Program undergo rigorous security checks, medical screenings, and cultural orientation programs before they step foot on US soil. This process can take years. We can not rip the carpet out from underneath people who have followed the rules, waited their turn, and want nothing more than a chance at freedom and the American dream.”
In January, days after the executive order went into effect, a group of Democratic lawmakers wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, urging him to undo the pause on the program.
