The State Department announced that thousands of people who had already been approved to travel to the United States days before the deadline set by President Trump to end the resettlement program, which provides safe haven for people fleeing persecution. The sudden cancellation of refugee travel.
The flight cancellations followed an executive order signed by Trump on Monday that indefinitely halted shelter resettlement. The order effectively halts the refugee admissions process, which involves multiple federal agencies and nonprofit organizations that host refugees.
More than 10,000 refugees are currently planning to travel to the United States, according to government data. This includes Afghans who were at risk due to their relationship with the United States prior to the military withdrawal from Afghanistan. Among the refugees allowed to travel were people from Africa, Latin America and the Middle East.
Officials with resettlement organizations say the sudden halt to flights was a painful blow to refugees who have gone through a complex and lengthy process to enter the country legally.
Angela Plummer, executive director of Community Refugee and Immigrant Services, which resettles refugees in Columbus, Ohio, said her organization had expected dozens of people to arrive on the suspended flights.
“These people were following all the rules and now they're at risk,” Plummer said. “It's heartbreaking.”
The decision to suspend the refugee program is in line with Trump's pledge to crack down broadly on immigration.
Under the decades-old refugee program, people who have fled their home countries as a result of persecution, war, or other life-threatening causes can legally immigrate to the United States. According to an executive order he signed on Monday, Trump said continuing the admissions would place a burden on communities that are ill-equipped to handle them.
Following his order, the State Department released a memo on Tuesday saying “all previously scheduled refugee travel to the United States is canceled and no new travel reservations will be made.” The International Rescue Committee and other organizations supporting refugees “should not request travel for additional refugee cases at this time,” the report said.
On Wednesday, U.S. refugee officials at Homeland Security agencies, including U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, were instructed to stop making decisions on refugee cases, according to an internal memo obtained by The New York Times.
News that the Trump administration has canceled travel for refugees who have already been granted permission to resettle in communities across the United States shocked leaders of nonprofit organizations that contract with the State Department to help new refugees. gave.
“The sudden halt to refugee admissions is devastating for families who have already endured unimaginable persecution and have been waiting for years for a chance to rebuild a safe life,” said Global Refuge Director Krish Omara Vignaraja. said in a statement.
“Refugees go through one of the most rigorous vetting processes in the world,” she continued, “and their dreams of safety are thwarted days, sometimes hours, before they start a new life.” It's heartbreaking to see this happen here. “
“Many have waited years, even decades, in refugee camps and worked diligently to obtain travel permits,” said Eskinder Negash, chairman of the U.S. Committee on Refugees and Immigrants. ” he said.
“Even if the refugee program resumes in the future, the indefinite suspension of refugee travel and processing will have a lasting trauma and impact on refugees and their families,” he said.
Plummer said her group has been fielding calls from distraught customers who have been waiting for their relatives to arrive for years, only to learn that the prospects for a reunion have dimmed.
Among them is Nur Ahmed, who arrived in Columbus in 2010 after fleeing Somalia's civil war. He sponsored his children, infant sister, and mother to participate.
Their lawsuit stalled during Trump's first term as president.
Mr. Ahmed's son and sister, both in their 20s, arrived last week shortly before returning to the White House. But his mother, 70, is due early next month and her arrival could be postponed indefinitely.
“I'm very lucky that my son and sister arrived, but I'm sad that my mother was left behind,” he said.
Members of the same family are often assigned different travel dates, which can result in additional years of separation.
“Trump has delayed us before. Now he's back and he's delayed again,” said Ahmed, a cross-country truck driver. “All I feel since Donald Trump arrived again is pain.”
“I haven't seen my mother since I left home, and I don't know when I'll see her again,” he said in an interview while carrying dry goods on a Texas highway.
As part of an avalanche of executive orders to reduce immigration, Trump suspended the refugee resettlement program on January 27. Officials at resettlement agencies had hoped that refugees who had completed the year-long process and had flights booked would still be able to enter the country. Travel to the United States.
During his first administration, Mr. Trump dismantled the refugee program by imposing additional screening on applicants deemed to pose national security risks and lowering targets for the number of people the United States wanted to admit. .
Presidents decide each year how many refugees the United States will admit that year, but those numbers vary, and Republican presidents have historically set some of the highest limits.
However, the number of refugees admitted to the country fell from 85,000 in 2016 under President Barack Obama to about 11,000 in 2020, the last year of Trump's administration, the lowest on record. It became. He prioritized religious minorities, primarily white Christians in countries such as Moldova and Russia.
As President Biden restructured the program, refugee admissions have skyrocketed, reaching 100,000 last year, the highest in 30 years.
This time, Mr. Trump justified the suspension of refugee admissions on the grounds that it would strain the resources of cities that need to benefit Americans.
“The United States lacks the ability to admit large numbers of immigrants, particularly refugees, into our communities without jeopardizing the resources available to Americans,” the order signed by Trump said. are. A few hours into his inauguration.
