Written by: Meg Ermer
During his first week in office, President Donald Trump signed a slew of executive orders, one of which suspends the United States Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) until further notice. The executive order says that the United States “lacks the ability to absorb large numbers of … refugees into its communities in a manner that [ensures] the availability of resources for Americans [and] that protects their safety and security,” implying that citizens need to be safeguarded from refugees.
The order cites Springfield, Ohio, about which Trump, during his 2024 presidential debate, made baseless claims that immigrants were “eating the pets of the people that live there.” However, numerous reporting agencies have investigated these claims and found them to be false.
Trump incorrectly conflates the refugee admissions process with his border policy agenda. Before they can set foot in the United States, refugee applicants are rigorously vetted and have cleared background checks by numerous federal agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Additionally, every applicant must do a face-to-face interview with an officer from United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and prove they are at risk of persecution in their home country. The entire process usually takes about two years, leaving many applicants in dangerous situations while they wait for their cases to be processed.
If applicants pass all of the security checks, they are subject to a thorough medical screening and a cultural orientation, and only then can they book travel to the United States. Once applicants arrive, local refugee resettlement organizations help them integrate into their new communities.
Trump’s USRAP suspension took effect on Jan. 27, leaving thousands of refugee applicants with no path forward, even those who had already waited through the admissions process, been approved and booked travel. Among these are over 1,500 Afghans who had risked their lives by working alongside U.S. agencies during the Taliban rule. Some are family members of active-duty U.S. military personnel.
The suspension has also disrupted funding for refugees already in the United States. Refugee resettlement organizations rely on federal funding to provide newly arrived families with rent, utilities and necessities. There is now no clear path forward for these organizations to continue supporting families in this capacity.
Regardless of how one may feel about Trump’s immigration policies, the refugee admissions process is a legal pathway that has provided over 3 million people with a safe home in the United States. It has been unfairly targeted by a president who seems to have little to no knowledge about the inner workings of the approval process nor the value that refugee families bring to our communities. Trump centered his presidential campaign largely on a crackdown on illegal immigration, but undermining a perfectly valid means of entering this country indicates that these policies may be about more than someone’s citizenship status.
If you feel compelled to help our community navigate this uncertain time, I encourage you to donate, volunteer and advocate with local refugee resettlement organizations. One of these is Bridge Refugee Services, an East Tennessee resettlement agency with a branch in Chattanooga. The time I’ve spent working with refugee families in my community has deepened my understanding of the hardships endured by innocent people, as well as shown me the immense power that communities have to uplift each other in the face of hate. To learn how to get involved, visit bridgerefugees.org.
