Writing on a wall that reads, “ No one is illegal.”
Credit: Miko Guziuk on Unsplash.

In North Carolina, Church World Service of Durham recently announced that it was furloughing two-thirds of its staff. Lutheran Services Carolinas, in nearby Salisbury, also announced that it was halting its aid to refugees who have recently arrived in the state. Meanwhile, in Texas, the Houston chapter of Catholic Charities recently laid off 120 employees—nearly a quarter of its staff.

The decision of these Southern faith-based nonprofits to either halt their resettlement work or dramatically decrease their staff is directly tied to recent actions from the Trump administration. It is part of a larger trend happening across the country. Trump’s decision to freeze federal funding—which he later rescinded and is now being litigated in court—sent ripples of chaos and confusion across nonprofit organizations that could not access hundreds of billions of federal dollars to perform crucial social services.

Trump’s decision has not only led to mass furloughs, it has also made it harder for refugees to receive the critical services they need.

Still reeling from the aftermath of the federal funding freeze, faith-based organizations that do resettlement work, both in the United States and abroad, are also now impacted by the Trump administration’s decision to shut down the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and end federal aid to resettlement agencies.

The Impact on Faith-Based Organizations

Trump’s decision has not only led to mass furloughs, it has also made it harder for refugees to receive the critical services they need. Additionally, some organizations, including Church World Service (CWS), still have not been reimbursed for work done before Trump assumed office.

As Religion News Service reporter Jack Jenkins points out, seven of the 10 groups that help the government resettle refugees are faith-based organizations. Over the past few weeks, workers at these organizations have had both their work and livelihoods impacted.

“The impact of these program suspensions is disastrous to the communities we serve and leaves behind thousands of people our nation has pledged to protect.”

“The painful decision to furlough many of our staff means that across the country, refugee families and other legally-protected groups of newcomers will have trouble accessing health care, housing assistance, legal services, and even basic essentials like warm winter coats for their kids,” said CWS President and CEO Rick Santos in a press release issued on February 4.

CWS assists in the resettlements of about 12 percent of refugees nationwide, helping refugees access healthcare, education, housing, and legal assistance. In Durham, the organization has operated for the past 15 years and helps over 1,500 immigrants each year.

“The impact of these program suspensions is disastrous to the communities we serve and leaves behind thousands of people our nation has pledged to protect—including Afghan allies who fought alongside the US military and refugee families who have been thoroughly vetted and endured a years-long process to be approved for travel,” Santos said.

As the AP points out, “Two of the 12 largest nongovernmental recipients of USAID funds are faith-based: Catholic Relief Services and World Vision. These Christian nonprofits serve millions of people globally and provide food, water, and healthcare in conflict zones.”

“Organizations like Catholic Charities perform vital services, and when their funding is cut and when it’s cut so abruptly, it is really doing a real disservice to the community,” said Anne Kennedy, an immigration attorney representing refugees in Houston.

Committed to the Work of Resettlement

Understanding the vital importance of these services, faith-based organizations have not given up and are committed to fighting back. In a statement released on February 3, Lutheran Services Carolinas President and CEO Ted W. Goins Jr. references Matthew 25:35: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty, and you gave me drink, I was a stranger, and you welcomed me.” For Goins, this is a direct call to action for the organization: “Our work is rooted in this call to hospitality and care.”

For over 30 years, the organization’s New Americans Program has worked to welcome refugees and immigrants to North Carolina and help them integrate into their communities. The organization decries the fact that this work has had to halt and calls on the policymakers to urge the White House and Congress to reinstate these services.

“Resettlement is a joint effort between local, state, and federal partners, and without immediate action, families will face insurmountable barriers to stability and success,” the statement reads.

Organizations are working to…battle cuts to their funds and resources.

At a rally on February 4, several furloughed CWS workers joined a protest outside the White House to express their discontent about the recent actions of the Trump administration. The head of CWS’s national office, Rev. Sharon Stanley-Rea, noted that more than two-thirds of the organization’s national staff had been furloughed, some of whom were refugees themselves.

On February 10, the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) filed a lawsuit on behalf of Church World Service, Lutheran Community Services Northwest, and HIAS—a Jewish group that has also had to lay off staff—to challenge the suspension of the refugee resettlement program and freeze of refugee support funding. Nine individual plaintiffs are also included in the lawsuit, illustrating the direct human cost of these actions.

One plaintiff, Pacito, is a Congolese refugee who fled war at 13 years old. When he was given a chance to move to America, he said he felt like it was “a second chance at life.” His family even sold their belongings and bought new clothes and shoes before their trip, but then Trump took office, and his flight was canceled.

“I hoped there was a mistake,” he said. “That night, my wife, my baby, and I slept outside the transit center in the parking lot, along with other refugee families waiting to travel to the United States. In the morning, they told us President Trump had canceled all refugee travel. Now I don’t know what we’re going to do. We have nothing.”

This is just one example of the people resettlement organizations are working to serve as they battle cuts to their funds and resources.

“These executive actions have separated families, abandoned US military allies, and harmed American communities,” CWS’s Santos said, “including congregations who have worked and prepared to welcome their new neighbors home.”