A local refugee resettlement agency is laying off 19 people, citing President Trump's halt on refugee arrivals and related funding, and another major resettlement organization is also bracing for potential cuts.
In January, President Trump suspended all new refugee resettlement in the United States, as his administration did during his first term in office. The administration also froze funding that goes towards agencies like Ascentria Care Alliance, which works with refugees in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
A federal judge blocked the resettlement pause last month, but the administration appealed that decision — and the money and arrivals are still on hold.
Ascentria's president, Angela Bovill, said they haven't been paid for work dating back to November. Typically, the federal government reimburses Ascentria and other agencies for resettlement costs.
“We have cut some of our staff, as few as we can possibly cut and still provide as many services as we can,” Bovill said. “But that will get harder and harder as they continue to not pay us or cut more contracts, which continues to happen.”
Those affected at Ascentria include staff who helped arrivals adjust to their new communities with housing assistance, language classes and jobs. Bovill said the organization is still providing those services to refugees who arrived before the White House’s order.
“We're cobbling together as much as we can to continue to provide the services for the families that have recently arrived so that we can get them to be successful long term,” Bovill said.
Another resettlement organization in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, the International Institute of New England, is also preparing for possible cuts. Its president Jeff Thielman says they are owed more than a million dollars in back payment from the federal government, for work that happened before the funding pause.
“We've been able to stay afloat and keep going because of good fundraising, private support and some of our reserve funds,” Thielman said. “But that's not sustainable forever.”
Bovill said she expects the pause to affect employers in the region since Ascentria sets arrivals up with jobs as part of the initial resettlement process.
“These employers count on us to provide good quality employees to support their businesses,” Boville said, specifically noting the health care industry's reliance on refugee employees. “And that pipeline is gone.”
Several refugee families continue to be separated from their family members who were scheduled to travel to the US until the pause was put into effect. Refugees have legal status in the country and go through an extensive, years-long vetting process.
But Thielman says clients are increasingly concerned they will be deported even with their legal status.
“We explain to them what their rights are, but they're in immigrant communities that are living in fear of ICE raids,” Thielman said. “And they are now in fear of not having the support of an organization like ours to the fullest extent necessary and possible. And so that is causing anxiety.”
