The Trump administration’s indefinite refugee ban and funding halt have had a devastating impact on the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, communities welcoming refugees across the country and tens of thousands of vulnerable refugee families stranded overseas and who have recently arrived in the United States. Below are some of the refugees and communities who have been impacted by recent Executive Orders.
Refugees booked for travel who have been left stranded overseas
Context: The January 20 refugee ban executive order indefinitely suspended the refugee admissions program starting at 12:01 a.m ET on January 27. Resettlement agencies scrambled to reschedule the most vulnerable cases in the intervening week. Unexpectedly, on January 22, news surfaced that even those refugees scheduled to travel before the effective date of the executive order would have their flights cancelled—and the refugee ban went into effect.
As of January 22, over 22,000 refugees were considered “ready for departure” who have completed all necessary security and medical checks and interviews. Approximately 12,000 had flights booked for travel to the U.S.—some who had begun to move and sell belongings in preparation for their resettlement. Each represents a harrowing story of displacement and a search for a safe place to call home. All were nearing the end of years-long vetting and medical screening processes—with resettlement sites and in many cases family members waiting to welcome them in the United States. All of them have been impacted by the suspension in resettlement.
- The Moreno Family: “We are a Venezuelan family of five members who had to flee our country due to threats and persecution. The case holder is my wife, who was directly threatened with death in Venezuela. For this reason, we were forced to leave everything behind and seek refuge in Colombia. In August 2024, we received a conditional approval from the United States under the Safe Mobility program, but we were never able to travel because the process was suspended with the change of government. Since then, we have been living in painful limbo, unable to return to Venezuela and without a defined future in Colombia. Our eldest daughter is about to turn 17 and dreams of studying veterinary medicine, but opportunities are very limited in our current situation. As parents, our greatest wish is for our children to have access to education and a secure future, away from threats and uncertainty. Despite the difficulties, we continue to try to maintain hope, training ourselves and exploring opportunities abroad. Telling our story is our way of asking not to forget the refugee families who are trapped in blocked resettlement processes.”
- Mother’s Plea for Hope: “I’m refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo currently living in Ethiopia with six children. I was full of hope to finally be on the path of being resettlement to the United States. But suddenly, that hope was taken away after the Trump administration suspended USRAP indefinitely and everything stopped. I keep waiting, praying and tell my children to be patient, but days turned into years. Life has become harder. What I see is fear and confusion in my children, and they ask me questions that I can not answer. I try to stay strong for them, but I, too, have lost hope. I feel helpless. I wonder if I will live a life where tomorrow is not a treat, but a promise. I speak out not for just myself but for the tens of thousands of refugees like me who have been approved, vetted and left stranded. I ask you, CWS, and all people of faith and compassion—please, do not forget us. Advocate for our resettlement. Please, help restore our hope. I dream of seeing my children in school, free from fear and full of dreams. I dream of a tomorrow that is better than today. I want my children to know that the world has not turned its back on them. We are mothers, fathers, children, survivors—still holding onto a thread of hope. Help us to turn hope into reality. Thank you for standing for refugees.”
- Joseph: “I am a Central African refugee in Benin approved for the American refugee program. With my family, we are suffering so much right now because we are not working, we do not have good conditions to ensure the future of our children and even in terms of health, we do not have the means to provide for that. We live in very painful conditions, sometimes going days without eating. The living conditions are not appropriate; the children are on the mat spending sleepless nights. With everything we have experienced as trauma during the war in the Central African Republic and what we are currently living, it is madness that does not yet touch us,. We are really unhappy about the program that has been suspended.”
- Gabriela: “I live in Bogota as a refugee, and I urge you and your office to support refugees and encourage the Trump administration to fully restore the refugee resettlement program and resume admissions of the most at-risk refugees worldwide. I was accepted as a refugee in December 2023. We were very excitedly waiting for our travel date and underwent medical exams for the third time on January 19, 2025. We were informed that everything was ready to travel as soon as the exams were loaded, but the next day the ban came into effect. We lost our jobs, temporary documents and health insurance. We had to move since we had talked about handing over the house and selling our belongings, leaving our situation in Colombia in limbo. Our family members traveled, leaving our family separated.”
- Samuel: “I am a refugee currently residing in Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya. I am a father of three boys and two girls, and I am writing to express my deep concern about the safety and well-being of myself and my family. I was scheduled to travel to the United States under the refugee resettlement program, with my original flight set for 15th January 2025. Unfortunately, that flight was canceled and rescheduled for 29th January 2025, which did not materialize. Since then, our situation has worsened. My son and I have both been attacked. We are now living in constant fear and uncertainty, as we do not understand the motives of those who attacked us. This violence has left my family traumatized and vulnerable. Our lives are at risk, and we do not feel safe in the camp. I respectfully call upon you to urgently advocate for me and my family’s protection and resettlement. Refugees like us, living in the diaspora, continue to face life-threatening challenges, and without timely intervention, our safety cannot be guaranteed. I plead with you to intervene in this matter and assist in ensuring that my family and I can find safety and live with dignity.”
- La esperanza que huye sin Rumbo fijo: “Once I was a normal woman and mother. I had a home to which I belonged, and due to the persecution for my political and religious beliefs, my life became a nightmare. Here I am in an unknown land trying to survive with my two younger girls. We are displaced, fleeing for our lives, leaving everything behind: family, friendships. Left alone with them, having a reason to fight and move forward, trying to seek safety, stability and a better future despite all the adversities that are present in our lives today, where the only thing I wish for is an opportunity to show that our suffering can be an example of overcoming. That love, strength, hope, resilience and trust in our Heavenly Father are our tools that we have left to endure all the trials we live through today. We can only trust that we are not alone and unprotected, to come to that idea and have hope to know if there will be a tomorrow for us, to know how long we will be like this as displaced persons and like the hope that flees without a fixed direction.”
- Wajdi was on the verge of reuniting with his parents in the United States when President Trump’s executive order indefinitely suspending refugee admissions upended their plans. Now, like thousands of others, his family is trapped in limbo, facing uncertainty as their dreams of safety and stability vanish overnight.
- Mr. Khan was separated from his wife and daughters for more than ten years. The journey was filled with uncertainty along the way, not the least of which included the Trump administration’s January 20th Executive Order suspending the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program indefinitely, shattering the hope of families like the Khans who dreamed of reaching safety in countries like the United States.
- Taq, a resettlement caseworker in Ohio, has witnessed first-hand the devastating impact of recent Executive Orders that have halted refugee arrivals, leaving families like his own in limbo. Taq’s cousin and his family were scheduled to arrive in the United States on February 20th but had their flights canceled, and his brothers, who are awaiting asylum interviews, are living in fear. “They are now left stranded…those still in [Afghanistan] have seen their hopes crushed.”
- Mursal and Ahmad were evacuated from Kabul in August 2021 as the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan. Ahmad’s brother, who had worked with the U.S. embassy, did not make it onto an evacuation flight. He and his family fled Afghanistan and had been moving smoothly through the refugee resettlement process, waiting for their final travel notification—until the executive order halting all refugee admissions was issued. Earlier this year, Mursal’s cousin, who had served in the Afghan military, was brutally killed by the Taliban and now, Mursal and Ahmad fear their family members waiting overseas may face the same fate if the resettlement process does not reopen.
- Zenayda is a refugee who resettled in Texas who has been trying for years to get her child to safety after many kidnapping attempts. The child’s flight was booked to arrive in February. That flight has now been cancelled, and the child’s case – which is listed as “extremely vulnerable” – is now once again delayed.
- Nur A. is a refugee who resettled in Ohio in 2010 after fleeing civil war in Somalia, and has been waiting to reunite with his son, sister, and mother for almost 15 years. The family was assigned different travel dates – and while his son and sister arrived the week before the ban went into effect, his 70-year-old mother’s flight was cancelled unexpectedly on January 22 as the ban went into place. She is now waiting in limbo, stranded from her children and grandchild.
- Doaa E. is a single mom with three children who have been forcibly displaced and are currently living as refugees in Cairo, Egypt. She was referred to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program because of her status as a refugee and because she has family already living in New Jersey. She and her children went through the lengthy vetting and screening process and finally had their travel booked to the U.S. – but her flight was among those cancelled by Trump’s indefinite refugee admissions ban. The children are 19, 15, and 13. The case file shows the family as: “Survivors of Violence and Torture.”
- Loni is a mother of six children who fled violence and torture in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The family’s flight to Houston to reunite with her husband and the children’s father was scheduled for February – but it was cancelled after the ban went into effect. Loni and her children are now stuck indefinitely in Malawi.
- The Sung family are refugees from Myanmar who were split up as they fled for safe harbor. Part of the family has been resettled in Texas, and they have been waiting for years as the rest of the family goes through the resettlement process. The flight was scheduled for early February, and the family here bought a four-bedroom home just to accommodate them. Their flight was cancelled at the last minute.
- Afghan refugees and SIVs. Processing and relocation of Afghan refugees and SIVs has also been suspended. Approximately 3,500 Afghan allies who were temporarily housed “on platform” in Qatar and Albania are no longer scheduled for travel and have had the provision of basic necessities paused.
Resettled refugees abruptly cut off from support
Context: Pursuant to the Executive Order “Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid,” on the afternoon of Friday, January 24 the Trump administration sent sweeping “stop work orders” to nearly all humanitarian and foreign aid programs. This freeze in funding— combined with a failure to reimburse organizations even for costs incurred before the stop work orders went into effect—has had devastating consequences. Among the services impacted is the Reception & Placement (R&P) program, through which refugee resettlement agencies cover basic needs like rent, food and clothes to recently resettled refugees in the United States.
Approximately 30,000 refugees and 10,000 Afghan Special Immigrant Visa holders in communities across the United States remain in their eligibility period for R&P services. For many of them, this basic support has been suddenly cut off—days before rent was due—amid the chaos and uncertainty of the stop work order and halt in reimbursements.
- Ali is a refugee from Iraq who resettled in Dallas, Texas in January 2025 and is statutorily entitled to receive core integration services for the first 90 days after he arrived – he has been cut off from that support due to the funding freeze.
- Maine. Resettlement groups in Maine adapt to uncertainty after Trump suspends refugee admissions. “Jon Godbout, executive director of the Augusta-based Capital Area New Mainers Project, said even as the pace of new arrivals slows, refugees already settled in Maine still need help with housing, education, and employment. Maine resettled close to 700 people through the federal refugee program in the fiscal year that ended last October, the highest number on record going back over a decade, and a significant rebound from the first Trump administration.”
- Connecticut. Trump cancels $4M to New Haven’s IRIS for refugee resettlement. IRIS Executive Director Maggie Michell Salem on the funding pause: “These people just arrived here. This isn’t some game. This isn’t a program you would shut down like a computer. These are humans. They are already afraid.”
- Michigan. Hundreds of newly arrived refugees in Michigan at risk of losing rent, housing aid. “The freeze in federal funding is the result of a stop-work order from the U.S. Department of State this week that directed private resettlement agencies not to incur any new costs under their contracts with the government to provide basic necessities to refugees during their first 90 days living in the United States. Many refugees arrive with just the clothes they’re wearing, and some of them stay temporarily in hotels until local housing is ready, Dobner said. The U.S. refugee resettlement program is an avenue of legal immigration for those fleeing persecution, violence and other disasters.”
- Despite the suspension of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, CWS remains committed to supporting refugee and immigrant families. Through essential services in CWS local offices—ranging from legal aid and housing assistance to medical support—CWS continues to provide a lifeline for newcomers in need. Read more to learn how CWS local offices in Dallas and Houston are making a difference for newcomer families.
Please note: Due to heightened protection concerns for individuals featured, pseudonyms have been used in many of these stories.
For daily updates on the latest policy changes, the morning’s headlines on key issues impacting refugees and immigrants and updated tools to take action, read and subscribe to our Daily State of Play. Have a story to share? Reach out to programcommunications@cwsglobal.org.