A Trump administration order on Jan. 27 halting funding that supports recent arrivals has left at least 59 Vermont refugees in limbo.
The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants in Vermont received the order at 5:40 p.m. that day, directing that it stop any and all work related to funding the reception and placement of refugees, including any new arrivals, officials from the nonprofit organization told VTDigger.
The order halted key federal funding - $1,650 per person - the organization has used toward the first 90 days of a refugee's arrival, said Sonali Samarasinghe, the organization's interim director. It also means the agency will have to lay off staff devoted to reception and placement, she said.
"So what we need to do very, very vigorously now, is locally raise funds," she said.
The loss of funding came just days after President Donald Trump's executive order halting the country's long standing refugee resettlement program.
The Ethiopian Community Development Council (ECDC), which has offices in Brattleboro and Bennington and fhelps to support more than 400 refugees relocated in southern Vermont, also announced in a Jan. 27 press release that its federal funding had been terminated. It, too, pledged to continue its work supporting refugees.
ECDC executive director Joe Wiah said in a statement that the council will continue to provide support services to local refugee families from Afghanistan, Ukraine, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and other conflict zones. It also put out an emergency appeal for donations to help provide "permanent housing, emergency medical support, food and winter clothing, language and job training, a pathway to a new life, and case management."
"Our 40-year history has shown the remarkable compassion of Americans towards those who stood alongside US troops, escaped violent conflicts, and those seeking hope and freedom," Wiah said in a press release. "Your support upholds the fundamental American values of compassion, opportunity, and human dignity." Donations may be sent to ecdcvt.org/donate.
The U.S. State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration's decision to abruptly terminate funding contracts put new refugees at immediate risk of homelessness, loss of medical care and essential services, the release stated.
A Jan. 26 post on the State Department's website stated that Secretary of State Marco Rubio "has paused all U.S. foreign assistance funded by or through the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for review… to ensure they are efficient and consistent with U.S. foreign policy under the America First agenda."
The department did not immediately respond to an email from VTDigger.
Vermont refugee relocation workers, calling the order inhumane, said it will impact the world's most vulnerable people - those fleeing their homes and countries - and possibly the most vetted legal residents who have been thoroughly security checked by the U.S. government.
"People are scared and they're apprehensive and they're confused," Samarasinghe said.
A 'wait and see' approach
Across the state, agencies that help refugees had adopted a wait-and-watch stance since Trump signed the order on Jan. 20.
"Over the last four years, the United States has been inundated with record levels of migration, including through the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program," the order states. The country, it adds, "lacks the ability to absorb large numbers of migrants, and in particular, refugees," and that continuing to allow more of them to enter "would be detrimental to the interests of the United States."
Tracy Dolan, Vermont's state refugee director, said high numbers of refugee arrivals indicate a high level of need. "We have more refugees worldwide than we've ever had escaping from persecution and war, and so there are a lot of people who need assistance, who very much would like to live and have prosperous lives in their own countries and who can't."
And new refugee residents have filled a key gap in Vermont, Dolan continued.
"We know through studies that have been put out by the Office of Refugee Resettlement that we gain as a country and as a state in terms of economic benefits from refugees here," she said.
"The majority of employable adults find work relatively quickly and we have employers that are very much looking to hire refugees and find it to be a successful, positive relationship. And we have organizations that are working with folks to help them move up and move ahead and really live the American dream."
Since October, Vermont has received about 160 refugees - about 25% of the number that had been expected to arrive in fiscal year 2025, according to Dolan.
She estimated that about 3,800 refugees have settled in the Green Mountain State since 2012. The most recent arrivals have come from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Syria, Venezuela, Sudan and Afghanistan. They have primarily resettled in Chittenden County, Rutland, Brattleboro, Bennington, and more recently, in smaller numbers, in Manchester.
About 85% to 90% of all employable adult refugees in Vermont typically join the taxpayer pool within six to eight months of arrival - a remarkable statistic for any population, said Samarasinghe.
"Refugees demonstrate a remarkable entrepreneurial spirit, they have high rates of business ownership, citizenship attainment, and homeownership. Nationwide refugees pay billions of dollars in taxes annually. Contrary to being a burden on taxpayers they are an integral part of the economy," Samarasinghe wrote in a statement.
"Vermont relies on the New American community to address the issues of an aging population," she said. By providing a robust young, hard working workforce, refugees "ensure a greater future for Vermont."
Gov. Phil Scott's press secretary, Amanda Wheeler, said in a statement that the administration "will continue to do our part to welcome refugees to Vermont, which is even more important as we face these demographic challenges." Referencing Trump's spree of executive orders, Wheeler continued, "we are working to review, assess, and understand what implications they may have on Vermont going forward."
Impact on Afghans in Vermont
Since U.S. troops pulled out of Afghanistan and Kabul fell to the Taliban in August 2021, many persecuted Afghan allies have found a safe haven in Vermont. So the order is particularly devastating for Afghan refugees awaiting relocation in the U.S., the Vermont Afghan Alliance said in a statement Wednesday.
The order means many Afghans on temporary visas in Pakistan could be deported and risk persecution by the Taliban, the alliance said. And it will affect refugees in Vermont who have been waiting to reunite with their family.
The decision "isn't just cruel - it's an unconscionable betrayal," the alliance said in its statement. "It shatters a sacred promise to Afghan allies who risked everything to support U.S. military and diplomatic missions."
The suspension of the refugee program deals a blow to the United States' standing in the world, said Samarasinghe, noting that most of the Afghan refugees moving to the U.S. are people who have helped the U.S. military. "For America to now appear to have relinquished that role of welcoming the vulnerable, really I think it harms our nation's standing abroad," she said.
"The most devastating impact of the suspension of refugee resettlement is that families will remain separated," she said.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding the fate of the program, Vermont's refugee resettlement organizations plan to continue working to help recent arrivals find employment, secure housing, and help their children get integrated in schools.
Some are holding out hope that the indefinite suspension will be short-lived. A line in the order that asks for a report within 90 days on whether the program is in the country's best interests.
"Everyone is going to continue to do the same hard work they've been doing. And we are hopeful that in three months, we will see the spigot turn on again," Dolan said.
This News item by Auditi Guha originally appeared in VTDigger and was republished in The Commons with permission.